Free Web NovelChapter 718: Chapter 280: King of Jealousy Grindelwald (Part 2)
"Despite Fleur Delacour’s outstanding use of the Bubble Head Charm, she was attacked by the Greenloody as she approached the target and failed to rescue the hostage—we give her 25 points."
The stands erupted in applause.
"I should get zero points," Fleur shook her elegant head, her voice hoarse as she spoke.
"Victor Krum used the Transformation Spell, although imperfectly, it was effective and he was the second to return with the hostage—we give him 40 points."
Kakaroff clapped enthusiastically, wearing a smug expression.
"Mr. Harry Potter," Mr. Bagman said again, "He was the first to return to the shore, although he was escorted by the Merfolk, we have clarified what happened under the water—Mr. Potter earned the friendship of the Merfolk, and he made sure all hostages returned safely, not just focusing on his own hostage."
"Oh ho," Ron muttered, "I bet Kakaroff that dog is going to look for reasons to dock points from you."
"Most judges," at this point, Bagman gave Kakaroff a very dissatisfied look, "think this fully demonstrates noble moral character. However... Mr. Potter’s score is 45 points."
"You guessed right," Hermione clapped and said, "Those five points were definitely docked by Kakaroff, that bitch!"
"You swore!" Ron looked at Hermione in surprise, "You actually swore, that’s not good..."
"Oh, come on, Ronald." Hermione rolled her eyes.
Everyone was clapping vigorously for Harry. The students of Hogwarts certainly believed that Harry had won the friendship of the Merfolk—but at the same time, the classmates didn’t believe that Harry had won the Merfolk’s friendship through peaceful means.
"Well done, Harry!" Ron shouted through the clamor.
"The third and final task will be held on the evening of June 24th," Bagman continued, "The warriors will learn about the task’s specifics a month in advance—thank you all for supporting our warriors."
After the second task ended, the most wonderful thing was that everyone was eager to know what exactly happened at the bottom of the lake, which meant that for the first time in his life, Ron became the center of attention just like Harry.
Harry noticed that Ron was telling the story over and over again, each time slightly different.
At first, he told it quite accurately, very similar to Hermione’s account—in Professor McGonagall’s office, Dumbledore used magic to hypnotize the hostages and first assured them that they were absolutely safe and would awaken as soon as they surfaced.
However, a week later, Ron began telling a thrilling kidnapping story, describing how he fought bare-handed with fifty fully armed Merfolk, who first tried to subdue him before tying him up.
"He thinks he’s Bruce Lee," Justin Finchley whispered to his classmates.
"Who’s Bruce Lee?" a classmate with a wizarding background asked curiously.
"Bruce Lee, like," Justin shook his head and sighed, "He’s someone really amazing, who could fight a hundred Fish People bare-handed—a real powerhouse."
"That must be really impressive." The classmates all said together.
Ever since Ron became the center of attention, he became very popular.
Hermione always looked at him helplessly but never exposed Ron’s lies.
Keeping up appearances for the kids is part of life, right?
Harry was also busy; his business was persuading Vivi not to snuff out the audacious Fleur.
"Oh, really?" Vivi asked with a smile in the office, "Looks like you’re good to her, sticking up for her and all that, huh... I don’t mind, if you really like her, you can tell me, Harry."
"No way!" Harry hastily retorted, "Look at her, she doesn’t have the years of friendship we have, she’s not as good to me as you, and she’s not as pretty as you... I’ll always like you, Vivi!"
"Really?" A hint of satisfaction flashed in Vivi’s eyes, "Even though you say so—"
"Of course, I’m not saying this just to save her life." Harry, full of self-preservation instinct, said, "Look, I’m thinking about your reputation... think about it, Vivi, what if people mistake you for a bloodthirsty Grindelwald like Gellert, would they still support you?"
"How do you know I’m not a Grindelwald like that?" Vivi asked with a faint smile.
"How could that be!" Harry righteously refuted, "In my heart, you are always that gentle, bright, kind, and lovely Vivi!"
At the door, Cassandra suddenly retched.
Gentle? Bright? Kind? Lovely?
Which of these words is associated with Grindelwald?
Oh well, men in love are truly irrational...
Vivi, however, nodded, acknowledging Harry’s assessment of her.
"I have no intention of doing anything to Miss Delacour, Harry," Vivi said with a half-smile as she looked at him, "You don’t have to be in such a hurry to preserve my reputation—or her life."
Harry thought, Yeah, right, you sly old lady, you’re quite the evil one!
But on the surface, Harry still smiled and said, "That’s what I thought too, Vivi—"
Vivi didn’t continue Harry’s sentence but instead said to him, "We’ve dealt with the Crouch business, now the plan is to get the Godfather into the Ministry of Magic to take Crouch’s place..."
"How did you find Mr. Crouch?" Harry asked curiously.
"At his home." Vivi said with a smile, "He was under the Soul-snatching Curse... isn’t it laughable? The dignified head of the British Ministry of Magic’s International Magical Cooperation Department, ambushed at home and subjected to the Soul-snatching Curse... What’s more laughable is that he wasn’t the only one ambushed, there was also a veteran Auror under the Soul-snatching Curse..."
"Was it the Death Eaters?" Harry asked alertly, "Were they trying to control the Ministry of Magic through Mr. Crouch?"
"Yes and no," Vivi said with a faint smile, "you guessed part of it right, but controlling Mr. Crouch wasn’t to have control over the Ministry of Magic... guess why?"
"I can’t guess." Harry spread his hands, speaking candidly.
"It was the Godfather who found out." Vivi placed her hands on the table, "We must start with Crouch’s son, Little Bartie Crouch—this man is a loyal follower of Voldemort and the first escapee in near history from Azkaban Prison."
"The first escapee?" Harry said surprised, "Wasn’t the first escapee the Godfather? Why is it Little Bartie Crouch? Wait... could it be Old Batty Crouch’s doing?"
"Bingo!" Vivi gave a thumbs-up, "You guessed it. I saw Crouch’s memory... It was around 1982, due to their son’s imprisonment, Mrs. Crouch’s health declined rapidly, and Little Bartie Crouch’s health was also deteriorating due to severe depression caused by imprisonment."
"Because of Old Batty’s high position in the Ministry of Magic, Mrs. Crouch entreated him to visit their child. She convinced her husband to take the Polyjuice Potion herself, replacing her son’s place, and smuggling her son out of Azkaban—not long after, she died and was buried outside the castle as Little Bartie Crouch."
"What a great mother’s love..." Harry sighed.
Vivi continued, "Old Batty tried to control his son, keeping his son’s secret existence from the public and preventing him from seeking Voldemort—in the end, Old Crouch had to use the Soul-snatching Curse on him, forcing him to hide under the Invisibility Cloak."
Harry suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"Wait!" he stood up and said, "Could it be that later Little Bartie Crouch broke free of the Soul-snatching Curse and turned the tables to control Old Batty?"
