Chapter 224: The Burned Contract
Chapter 224: The Burned Contract
Although Sherlock hadn't mentioned Barty Crouch Jr.'s issue, he had informed Kingsley about the Hand of Glory.
"I connected the Hand of Glory to one of the fleeing Wizards, but it only showed a location for a brief moment before the connection was severed. Someone must have discovered the problem. The final location was a small town in the far north of Derbyshire. You can send someone to investigate, but it's unlikely you'll find anything."
Kingsley took Sherlock's words very seriously. He immediately left to instruct two Aurors who could Apparate directly to Derbyshire to investigate the situation, then returned to the interrogation room.
"Where did you get that Hand of Glory?" he asked, frowning.
Sherlock didn't tell the truth, shrugging and making up an excuse.
"I bought it from an unknown Wizard in Knockturn Alley. You have to keep it a secret for me; I don't want to be accused of selling Dark Magic items."
Kingsley nodded.
"Even if it were discovered, it wouldn't matter. You used a Dark Magic item to help the Ministry of Magic, and no one would hold it against you."
"Typical civil servant, always so diplomatic", Sherlock remarked.
After that, Kingsley took a brief statement from them and, after applying for permission, released Sherlock and Silke from the Ministry of Magic.
As they left the Ministry, Sherlock's initially relaxed expression gradually turned grim.
Silke noticed the change.
"Is something wrong?"
Sherlock furrowed his brow.
"The Hand of Glory is classified as a Dark Magic item not just because it requires human hands for its creation. The magic it uses to track is almost impossible to detect. The connection breaking means someone immediately noticed the issue with Barty Crouch Jr."
"Such keen eyesight suggests he has partially regained his powers", he muttered to himself.
He then turned to Silke.
"Can you go to the Weasley family and tell them I'm fine? I need to make a trip to Hogwarts."
Silke nodded and Apparated away.
After she left, Sherlock didn't linger. He went straight to Hogsmeade and made his way back to Hogwarts Castle.
It was still a week before the start of the school term, so the castle was quite empty. He climbed the stairs to the third floor, stopping at the stone gargoyle.
"Is Professor Dumbledore in his office?"
The stone gargoyle remained silent for a moment, as if seeking confirmation from inside. A few seconds later, it moved aside, revealing a passage for Sherlock.
Sherlock ascended the spiral staircase to the eighth floor and pushed open the door to Dumbledore's office.
Dumbledore was holding a letter, looking serious as he read it. When Sherlock entered, his expression relaxed.
"Ah, I just received word that there was an incident at the Quidditch World Cup. I was wondering if you might come to see me today, and here you are."
Sherlock, however, didn't appear as relaxed as Dumbledore. He composed his expression, making it unreadable, and sat down opposite Dumbledore.
"I saw Barty Crouch Sr. in the stands."
Dumbledore's expression turned grave as well. He set down the letter and gestured for Sherlock to continue.
"You know I possess a unique form of magic from my mother's inheritance. Using this magic, I detected Barty Crouch Sr. in the stands during the final match, accompanied by the Crouch family's house-elf, Winky."
Both men understood the implications without further explanation. Dumbledore's voice was somber as he spoke.
"Barty knows his son is alive and has been hiding him."
"Moreover, Barty Crouch Jr. seemed to be under his father's control, and the house-elf was always watching over him."
"I have a history with him from the past, and I felt his presence at the World Cup was suspicious. After the match, I followed him."
"The timing of the chaos was too convenient. Someone was helping Barty Crouch Jr. escape. He succeeded, casting the Dark Mark in the sky and meeting up with three masked individuals."
Dumbledore murmured, "Death Eaters."
"Yes, Death Eaters. They all had the Dark Mark tattoo and the masks, which are characteristic of the Death Eaters who went into hiding after the Dark Lord's disappearance and avoided being captured by the Ministry of Magic."
"They were trying to take Barty Crouch Jr. away. I intervened, and he recognized me, even mentioning my mother's name."
Sherlock kept his gaze fixed on Dumbledore’s eyes as he spoke, pausing deliberately for a moment.
“He told me things you’ve always been unwilling to share, things that no one else knows.”
Dumbledore’s gaze was deep, and he seemed to be deliberately avoiding Sherlock’s eyes. He lightly tapped his fingers on the desk.
“He was trying to provoke you.”
“I don’t deny that,” Sherlock said calmly. “And he succeeded. I was so angry that I even considered using the Killing Curse and acted on it.”
Dumbledore’s brow furrowed immediately.
“You used the Killing Curse to kill them?”
Sherlock took a deep breath.
“Perhaps because it was my first time using the Killing Curse, it didn’t have the immediate lethal effect. They just kept bleeding, but didn’t die. When they tried to escape, I used transfiguration to kill two of them.”
Hearing this, Dumbledore’s frown eased. The look he gave Sherlock was complex, but mostly filled with relief.
“Dark Magic, especially the Unforgivable Curses, requires immense malice to be effective. Compared to the other two spells, the Killing Curse demands even more. I’m glad that even though you were provoked and very angry, you didn’t fully unleash that spell, Sherlock.”
“What if I had?” Sherlock asked coolly.
“Nothing would have happened, but Dark Magic is dangerous. Its influence on the mind isn’t instantaneous,” Dumbledore said, his voice calm yet heavy with concern. “Many wizards, after using the Killing Curse for the first time, become immersed in the pleasure of taking lives at will. They start using the Killing Curse recklessly, and it is at this point that Dark Magic corrupts their minds.”
Sherlock understood what Dumbledore meant, but his thoughts went further.
When he had used a hundred wands to cast the Patronus Charm, the overwhelming positive emotions had completely infected him, affecting his thoughts.
If he had really used a hundred Killing Curses tonight, the negative emotions that would have flooded back could have transformed him into something else.
He didn’t dwell on it, but he was now wary and would try to avoid using multiple wands to cast the Unforgivable Curses in the future.
“I want to know if what he said is true,” Sherlock asked, his gaze steady on Dumbledore’s eyes, revealing the purpose of his visit.
“Being captured by Voldemort, being tortured to the brink of madness, and then being released.”
Dumbledore fell silent.
He held Sherlock’s gaze, remaining quiet for a long time.
After three minutes, he sighed and stood up from his chair, pacing around the office, clearly hesitating.
“Did you kill Barty Crouch Jr. later?” he asked an unrelated question.
“Yes, but I let one of them go,” Sherlock didn’t hide anything. “One of the Death Eaters took Barty Crouch Jr.’s body away. I hoped to use his body to find the Dark Lord’s current hiding place, but I only managed to get a location before the magic I placed on Barty Crouch Jr. was discovered.”
Dumbledore didn’t seem particularly surprised by this outcome.
If Voldemort were so easy to outsmart, he wouldn’t have such a significant influence in the wizarding world.
“Did the Death Eater who escaped recognize you?”
“He called out my name.”
Sherlock’s words seemed to finally solidify Dumbledore’s resolve. He turned and walked to the wall adorned with portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses, finding the portrait of a kind and elderly witch.
“Dilys, could you give me that contract?”
The kind witch in the portrait seemed to pull something from her robe pocket and handed it to Dumbledore through the frame.
The old parchment magically passed through the frame, and Dumbledore took it in his hand.
Sherlock had been watching Dumbledore’s movements closely. He saw several names densely written on the parchment, some faded to a grayish white, others still in fresh green ink.
After receiving the contract, Dumbledore didn’t show it to Sherlock. Instead, he waved his hand, summoning Fawkes, the phoenix perched on a golden branch behind the door, and handed the parchment to its beak.
“Thank you, Fawkes,” Dumbledore said softly.
Fawkes let out a call, as if acknowledging, and returned to the golden branch, flapping its wings twice. Suddenly, golden-red flames erupted from its body!
A pained bird cry echoed.
The flames instantly consumed Fawkes and the parchment!
“That contract can only be destroyed by the flames produced during a phoenix’s rebirth. Although Fawkes isn’t due for rebirth yet, it had to be done.”
Dumbledore watched Fawkes, now a fiery ball, and explained softly to Sherlock.
(End of Chapter)
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