Chapter 505: Memories of the Pensieve!!
"Brother!"
Darren cried out anxiously as his feet touched solid ground.
He immediately spotted Harry.
Harry turned around as well.
"Darren, I'm here!"
Harry quickly reached out and pulled him closer.
Only then did Darren seem to relax, letting out a long breath.
"You scared me, brother. I thought I'd lost you!"
Harry gave a weak laugh.
When he had seen the Pensieve just now, he'd thought of Darren's previous experience with it.
He had assumed it was still Darren's memory inside.
So he leaned forward to take a look—
and ended up falling in again.
Fortunately, this time it wasn't Darren's memory.
This is a trial, Harry realized at once.
The courtroom was unmistakable.
It was the Wizengamot, the same place where Darren had once been tried.
But the witches and wizards seated here were not the same ones who had judged Darren back then.
And the atmosphere was far more severe.
At least two to three hundred witches and wizards filled the chamber.
Even Dumbledore himself was seated among them.
Neither Harry nor Darren noticed at first.
Seeing Darren tense up, Harry quickly explained in a low voice:
"This is just a memory. No one here can see us."
Darren nodded obediently.
"Then… should we leave?"
Harry shook his head.
He pulled Darren toward an empty seat, because at that moment, a prisoner was being brought in.
It was Igor Karkaroff.
Karkaroff was forced into the central chair of the courtroom.
The chair was covered in thick, twisted chains.
The instant he sat down, the chains snapped tight, binding him firmly.
"Karkaroff," a stern voice declared,
"you have been brought from Azkaban. It is said you have something important to tell us. Speak."
It was Mr. Crouch.
Barty Crouch Sr.—before madness had taken him.
At this time, his hair was still jet black.
Harry and Darren heard a younger Moody mutter to a slightly younger Dumbledore beside him:
"Crouch wants to release Karkaroff—as long as he gives up enough names."
"If it were up to me, I'd let him talk, get every name out of him… then lock those people up too."
Moody's words made Harry pause.
But clearly, many others did not agree.
Several people shot Moody displeased looks.
Moody, of course, didn't back down—he glared right back at them.
It startled a few of them into silence.
Harry nearly laughed.
His attention returned to Karkaroff.
By now, Karkaroff had begun naming names.
"I once saw… Anton—"
"Already arrested," Mr. Crouch said coldly.
"What?!"
Karkaroff flew into a rage.
The name he had offered was useless.
Panicking, he blurted out another.
"Rozier! Evan Rozier!"
"I'm afraid he's dead," Crouch replied.
"He resisted arrest and was killed in the fight."
Karkaroff's fear was now obvious.
"If you don't provide more important names," Moody roared,
"you'll be going straight back to Azkaban!"
Karkaroff shuddered.
He swallowed hard and cried out, "I know—yes—I know!"
"Ludovic Bagman! The Bagman family!"
"And… Snape! Severus Snape!"
Harry froze.
He saw Darren's eyes widen in disbelief.
At that moment, the younger Dumbledore rose from his seat.
"Severus Snape has been acting as a double agent," Dumbledore said calmly.
"He has passed us valuable information. I can personally vouch for him."
Harry noticed Darren finally relax.
But the scene shifted again.
The memory flowed onward.
Another trial appeared.
This time, Ludovic Bagman stood accused of being a Death Eater.
Yet none of the Wizengamot truly believed the charge.
In the end, Bagman was acquitted.
The memory changed once more.
Four witches and wizards stood trial together.
Among them was a blond-haired young man.
He shouted desperately at Mr. Crouch:
"I didn't—I didn't do it! Dad! I wasn't involved! I swear!"
But Crouch didn't listen at all.
Harry recalled what Sirius Black had once said—
that blond young man died a year later.
At this moment, Mr. Crouch was roaring furiously:
"You used the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom!"
"When he wouldn't talk, you tortured his wife—right beside their one-year-old child!"
Darren felt a jolt.
At some point, Dumbledore had entered the Pensieve as well.
Darren's face filled with shock and unease.
He raised a hand, as if trying to stop the sentencing.
"They should have interrogated him properly… shouldn't they?"
He spoke softly.
But it was already too late.
Barty Crouch Jr. had been condemned.
He collapsed, sobbing.
"I didn't… I really didn't… I wasn't involved…"
"I'm your son!"
His cries were broken and desperate.
But Mr. Crouch roared back, his voice filled with fury:
"You are not my son!"
"Take him away—and send him to the dementors!"
Darren's eyes grew dull.
"Darren," a gentle voice asked,
"do you pity him?"
It was Dumbledore.
He now stood beside Darren and Harry.
Darren startled slightly, but Dumbledore's presence calmed him.
"Don't be afraid," Dumbledore said kindly.
"I simply want to know—are you pitying him?"
"I… I don't know," Darren answered honestly.
"I don't know if he was acting."
"But Mr. Crouch wasn't a good father. He should have listened to his child."
"Maybe… maybe he really didn't do it."
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
Dumbledore smiled softly.
"Yes, Darren. You're right."
"But we must return now. I don't think this memory was meant for you."
With that, he took Darren and Harry by the arm.
In the blink of an eye, they were back in Dumbledore's office.
Darren immediately bowed his head apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Headmaster Dumbledore. I… I was too curious, so I entered…"
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
He stammered awkwardly.
Dumbledore sighed, helpless but amused.
He looked at Harry.
"There's no need to hide it, Darren."
"Of course I know it was Harry."
"He's the only one who knows about the Pensieve."
"Don't worry—I won't punish him."
"I simply want you to understand, Harry—curiosity is not always a good thing."
"You must remember that."
Harry scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.
Then he quickly told Dumbledore everything about the pain in his scar.
Dumbledore listened intently, occasionally stopping him to ask for details.
At last, he asked coldly:
"Harry—aside from the summer holidays and this incident…
has your scar hurt at any other time?"