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Chapter 642: She Is So Smart, She Wouldn't Fail to Consider It
Chapter 642: She Is So Smart, She Wouldn't Fail to Consider It
Stepping out of the Headmaster's Office, Ivan bid farewell to Mad-Eye Moody and walked alone through the castle, his mind preoccupied with the whereabouts of Barty Jr.
The surprise raid on Crouch's office was neither a failure nor a resounding success, as they had not uncovered many valuable clues from Crouch.
Ivan slowly pulled out the Daily Prophet he had taken from Crouch's office, reviewing it while summarizing all the information he had gathered so far.
First, he confirmed that Barty Jr. had not been impersonating his father, Crouch.
This was beyond doubt, as he had already used Legilimency to search Crouch's mind and was certain it was Crouch himself, with no signs of the Imperius Curse or memory modification.
Second, based on the handwriting on the note and Crouch's testimony, the person who had placed Harry's name into the Triwizard Cup was indeed Barty Jr.!
He must have secretly infiltrated the castle to cast a powerful Confundus Charm on the Triwizard Cup.
But the question remained: How did he manage to slip into Hogwarts, where had he been hiding all this time, and how had he evaded the Marauder's Map?
These questions swirled in Ivan's mind.
"If I were in his shoes, what would I do?" Ivan closed his eyes, trying to put himself in Barty Jr.'s position.
He was well aware of the Marauder's Map's capabilities. It was a highly useful magical item that displayed the names of all wizards in the castle, even Dumbledore could not escape its detection!
However, no matter how powerful, it was still just a magical artifact and was not without its limitations.
Back in his second year, he had discovered that the map could not detect places like the Room of Requirement or the Chamber of Secrets.
This meant that if someone used magic to create an independent space, they could successfully evade the Marauder's Map.
Furthermore, as an alchemist, Ivan believed that using sealing runes could achieve the same effect, by wrapping the entire body.
So, it was feasible to avoid the Marauder's Map, but the accompanying challenges were significant. If Barty Jr. remained hidden in one place, how would he manage to eat, drink, and handle other basic needs?
No one could truly conjure food out of thin air.
He might be able to endure for a day or two, but in the long run, Barty Jr. would starve to death! Moreover, staying hidden would make it impossible to accurately gather information to help Harry progress through the third task and obtain the Cup, which had been turned into a Portkey.
During the first task, he and Harry had already created a significant gap, and if this continued, the gap would only grow larger. Barty Crouch Jr. would never remain hidden and watch this happen!
Ivan strained to analyze the possible hiding spots for Barty Jr., but he had too little information. The only hope was for Barty Jr. to make a mistake, which would allow Ivan to trace him.
With this thought, Ivan rubbed his forehead, temporarily setting aside the matter of Barty Jr. As long as Barty Jr. continued to help Harry, he would inevitably slip up; it was just a matter of waiting patiently.
A more immediate and vexing problem, however, was how to resolve the misunderstanding with Hermione.
The Dance was coming up soon...
Ivan wandered aimlessly through the castle, not following Dumbledore’s suggestion to head to the Great Hall for dinner. Instead, he subconsciously followed a quiet, secluded path.
He had grown so accustomed to practicing magic with Luna every evening that he could navigate to their usual spot on autopilot.
By the time Ivan realized where he was, he had already reached the end of the path.
Not far ahead, Luna was perched on a windowsill, gazing out at the Forbidden Forest. Her legs swung leisurely, as if she had been there for quite some time.
Perhaps hearing Ivan’s footsteps, she slowly turned her head and then jumped down from the high windowsill.
“You’re late… That’s quite unusual…” Luna said lightly, her tone lacking any real reproach.
“I’m sorry, Luna. Professor Dumbledore needed to speak with me, and it took some time…” Ivan explained apologetically.
“Is that so…” Luna drawled, her beautiful pale blue eyes fixed intently on Ivan. She scrutinized him for a while, and just as Ivan was about to ask what she was looking at, she suddenly spoke. “Nargle…”
“What?” Ivan was momentarily confused.
“There are a lot of Nargles…” Luna continued, seemingly to herself. “I think they must have been swirling around you, trying to float into your ears and muddle your thoughts.”
As she spoke, Luna pulled out her wand from behind her ear and waved it in a peculiar rhythm.
“Try this… Scourgify~” Luna pointed her wand at Ivan and cast the spell.
A gentle magical breeze enveloped Ivan, brushing away the dust from the edges of his robes. Ivan felt as if he were surrounded by several hairdryers.
“Feel better?” Luna asked curiously when the spell ended.
“No, I don’t think this spell will work on Nargles!” Ivan said with a mix of amusement and exasperation. Scourgify clearly wasn’t going to solve his problems. A Memory Charm or a Cheering Potion might be more appropriate.
“But I think it did help a bit…” Luna insisted earnestly. Her magic had clearly blown away many Nargles.
Ivan was speechless. Young witches’ whimsical ideas were always so unexpected. He wasn’t sure whether to call her clever or peculiar.
“So, what’s troubling you today?” Luna asked, moving past the Nargle discussion.
“It’s about the dance…” Ivan hesitated for a moment before continuing. He had a lot on his mind and had been unable to confide in anyone. He thought Luna might be a good listener. She was discreet and trustworthy, never revealing what he had told her.
Luna seemed very interested in the dance and adopted a serious listening posture.
Ivan didn’t hold back, recounting the whole story, including Hermione’s misunderstanding when she saw them walking together.
“Each person can only invite one person to the dance. Since I asked her again, it’s clear I wasn’t inviting anyone else. She’s so smart; she should have figured it out.” Ivan added, recalling the complex expression on Hermione’s face and her questioning words when he first invited her.
This was why he hadn’t chased after her immediately to explain. It wasn’t just because of Mad-Eye Moody’s urgent request. More importantly, he realized he had never truly understood Hermione’s thoughts and feelings over the years, leading to repeated misunderstandings.
(End of Chapter)
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