Dumbledore's warning left Eda completely baffled. This was clearly a matter between Moody and the Crouch father and son, so how had it suddenly gotten anything to do with Snape?
She did not understand it, but Dumbledore had no intention of explaining. Eda could only commit those words to memory and assume that Dumbledore had some other arrangement in mind.
Otherwise, what else could she do?
Getting to the bottom of something by asking questions was only useful when the other person already intended to tell you, but was still hesitating. Only then could your persistence get an answer out of them.
If the other person had no intention of telling you anything at all, you could smash a whole pile of cauldrons and it still would not help. They would not reveal a single word.
Still utterly confused, Eda returned to the common room. She kept going over every detail of Dumbledore's words and behavior, trying to figure something out. In the end, however, she found nothing and could not guess what grand plan Dumbledore had come up with this time.
A person who has thunder rumbling in his heart while his face remains as calm as a placid lake is worthy of being appointed as the Supreme Mugwump. If Dumbledore did not want you to see through something, he could always do it perfectly.
The next morning, Eda caught Harry in an empty classroom. Hermione and Ron were with him as well.
When Eda arrived, the three of them were discussing what had happened in the Forbidden Forest the previous night, specifically how Bartemius Crouch had disappeared right under everyone's noses.
"So, if that's the case," Hermione said, rubbing her forehead, "either Crouch attacked Viktor, or someone attacked the two of them while Viktor wasn't paying attention."
"It was definitely Crouch," Ron immediately said. "That's why he was already gone when Harry and Eda got there. He sure ran fast."
"I don't think so," Harry said, shaking his head. "He looked very weak... I don't think he could Apparate or anything."
At this point, Eda knocked on the classroom door, making the three of them notice her standing there. Scheming loudly and making plans in public, classic Gryffindor behavior.
"There are anti-Apparition measures on the grounds of Hogwarts. Even a perfectly healthy Crouch couldn't Apparate inside the school," Eda corrected them. "It's mentioned repeatedly in Hogwarts, A History."
No one could Apparate inside Hogwarts, not even Eda, but she could use Flashing as a substitute for Apparition.
Hermione gritted her teeth and said, "Don't even mention that book. I've told the two of them countless times, but they never remember! Not once!"
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance. Their bewildered expressions were exactly the same. They seemed to be asking each other: You can't Apparate in Hogwarts? When did Hermione ever tell us that?
"Then... perhaps they might remember it only after seeing it written in a book with their own eyes, or after trying to Apparate inside the school themselves."
Eda smiled as she said this. Sometimes she really admired these two idiots, Harry and Ron. Despite being so muddle-headed, they somehow always managed to turn danger into safety. Their luck was simply unbelievable.
Compared with the two muddle-headed idiots, Eda admired Hermione even more. If Hermione were replaced by herself, she would have exploded with rage long ago. She might even have grabbed one of them in each hand and strangled them both.
"Harry, before you ran out of the Forbidden Forest last night, what exactly did Bartemius Crouch say to you?" Eda asked.
"He was rambling at the time. He didn't seem to be in his right mind, and his physical condition wasn't very good either." Harry recalled the events as he spoke. "He said he needed to warn Dumbledore. He said he'd done something stupid, and he also mentioned his son."
That fit perfectly. When someone was not in their right mind, everyone would treat whatever they said as the ravings of a madman. But people often overlooked the fact that astonishing truths were sometimes hidden within those ravings.
Bartemius Crouch wanted to warn Dumbledore and had also mentioned his son. This once again proved that Barty Crouch Jr. was indeed still alive. The only people in the world who knew that Barty Jr. was still alive were Crouch himself, and perhaps the house-elf Winky as well.
Eda continued asking, "Anything else?"
"Yes. He also mentioned Bertha Jorkins, who disappeared." Harry said, "He seemed convinced that Bertha Jorkins was already dead, and he also thought her death was caused by a mistake he had made."
Of course it was caused by Crouch. Eda's earlier speculation had once again been confirmed.
Eda had previously suspected that Bertha Jorkins's disappearance was not as simple as the Ministry of Magic believed. Bertha might have learned some secrets she should never have known, which was why she had been deliberately made to disappear.
Now, Crouch, whose mental state was clearly abnormal, had practically confessed without being asked, taking the blame upon himself. Wasn't that proof that Eda's theory had been correct?
Bertha Jorkins had once visited Bartemius Crouch's home for work or some other reason. By chance, she discovered her superior's secret. She discovered that Barty Crouch Jr., who should have been dead, was actually still alive.
As a result, Bertha Jorkins was transferred away from the Department of International Magical Cooperation. She never mentioned the secret she had seen to anyone else, perhaps because she had "forgotten."
In the wizarding world, memories were very unreliable things. Memories could be forgotten, and they could also be modified.
As for Bertha Jorkins's disappearance, and even her death, Eda still couldn't figure out exactly who had done it.
After thinking for a while, Eda asked again, "Harry, what about your map? Do you still have the Marauder's Map?"
"You... you want to use it?" Harry asked awkwardly, because the map was no longer in his possession. "For some reason, Professor Moody discovered the Marauder's Map, and then confiscated it."
So that was it. No wonder Moody at the school had been able to accomplish everything in such a short time last night, making Bartemius Crouch seem as though he had simply vanished from the face of the earth.
Eda had every reason to suspect that Moody had been using the map to monitor everything happening around the school during this period.
Last night, he had probably been the first to discover Crouch on the map, so he immediately went to the Forbidden Forest, intending to persuade Crouch to stop, or perhaps to take control of him.
Unfortunately, Moody had still arrived too late. Crouch had encountered Harry and Viktor Krum, who were talking alone, first.
Perhaps there were too many people around for him to act, or perhaps there was another reason. Moody had delayed taking action. It was only after Harry left that Moody knocked out Krum and took control of the crazed Crouch.
But Moody probably had not expected Harry to return so quickly, and to bring someone else with him.
To avoid exposing himself, Moody had no choice but to hastily deal with the scene before hurriedly returning to the castle, pretending to encounter Snape by chance and giving himself a solid alibi.
This was what Eda had never been able to figure out. Why had Moody's actions been so swift, always managing to stay one step ahead? And how had he managed to encounter Snape so precisely in the castle, giving himself an alibi while still having enough time to return to the Forbidden Forest and clean up the mess?
With the Marauder's Map, all these questions had an answer.
Moody could know everyone's movements in advance, skillfully avoid everyone, and then have a beautiful chance encounter with Snape.
"Eda, what do you think about this?" Hermione asked. "Mr. Crouch couldn't have just evaporated, could he? There isn't a single trace left."
After thinking for a while, Eda decided she should tell them some of what she could. Some people were simply too impulsive, and their acting skills were far too poor.
She answered, "Of course Crouch didn't evaporate. He simply disappeared. Perhaps it was the same kind of disappearance as Bertha Jorkins's."
"The same kind of disappearance as Bertha Jorkins's..." Hermione repeated to herself. Then she instinctively covered her mouth to keep herself from making a sound. She already understood what Eda meant.
Although they were a few seconds slower, Harry and Ron soon figured it out as well. Harry could not help saying, "Why would this happen..."
"Humans are always curious about secrets, but people who know too many secrets often end up putting themselves in danger," Eda said. "Especially when those secrets are connected to another enormous conspiracy."
Hermione thought for a while before asking uncertainly, "Eda, are you saying that Mr. Crouch's disappearance is connected to that person?"
Seeing Hermione use "that person" instead of bluntly saying "Voldemort," Eda was deeply gratified.
Eda first nodded, confirming Hermione's suspicion, then asked Harry, "Harry, can you tell me in detail about that dream you had during the summer?"
...
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