94 Diagon Alley

Unbearable.

"I'll come back to see you after I've seen Fudge, Harry." Dumbledore said, "I hope you'll stay here tomorrow, too, until I finish speaking to the students and teachers of the school. Say it again." After that, he left.

Harry caught a glimpse of the real Moody still at Cedric's bedside, and he and Mr. Diggory whispered something, seeming to be very interested in the Hufflepuff warriors.

Ron, Hermione, Bill, Mrs Weasley came in through the curtain at Sirius's arrangement and sat on the chairs on either side of him. The twins and Gwen stood at the foot of the bed. Ron and Hermione looked at him, almost cautiously, as if afraid of him.

"I'm fine," he told them, "just too tired."

Mrs. Weasley caressed his sheets unnecessarily, tears welling in her eyes.

Mrs. Pomfrey had just made a hasty visit to her office when she returned with a small bottle and a goblet containing a purple potion.

"You need to drink it all, Harry," she said. "It will give you a sleepless night."

Harry took the glass. "Before drinking it," he said to Gwen, who looked unkempt and frowned, "thank you, Gwen. The Ollivanders wand and your reminder saved my life."

Then Harry raised his glass and drank the potion. He felt groggy all of a sudden. Everything around him became blurred; the lights in the ward seemed to wink friendly at him through the curtains; he felt as if his body were sinking deeper and deeper into the warm feather mattress. Before he could finish the medicine or say a word, he was exhausted and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Harry's family and friends were so quietly packed in front of his bed. Thinking of what Harry had said to her before he fell asleep, and seeing Diggory, who was pale and unconscious not far away, Gwen couldn't help crying behind George's back.

"I can't figure it out," Gwen said in a trembling voice, "We've all told the principal the truth about Crouch, why is this happening."

George noticed that Sirius frowned in disapproval, but he did not answer Gwen's question.

"What happened?" Ron couldn't help asking.

"Wait until Harry wakes up, okay?" Sirius tucked the quilt on the boy lying on the bed.

So Hermione and Ron, plus Bill and Fred, grabbed George and Gwen, and a group of them made their way to the hospital bed furthest from Harry.

"Come on, George." Fred asked his brother impatiently, "I'm already a little **** that you guys are hiding it from me."

George and Gwen could only cheer themselves up and go through how they discovered the fake Moody. While they were talking, the real Moody was sitting by Cedric's bed, looking at him with interest. Gwen never felt that bad pressure again this time.

"He used the compound decoction?"

"Little Crouch still alive?"

Then Hermione covered her head and went through it from beginning to end, and came to the conclusion: "Little Crouch must have helped Harry in the first few levels, just to ensure that he wins in the final."

But what exactly happened in the final, what caused Harry and Cedric's serious injuries, the kids had no idea. They continued to huddle around Harry like a group of Weasley garden goblins.

A few hours later, several uninvited guests came to the ward of the medical wing.

"If they don't shut up, they'll wake him up!" said Hermione.

"What are they yelling about? Something happened again?" Ron was a little worried.

"It's Fudge's voice," whispered Mrs. Weasley. "It's Minerva McGonagall's voice, isn't it? But what are they arguing about?"

"It's a pity, but there's no way, Minerva—" cried Cornelius Fudge.

"You should never have brought it into the castle!" cried Professor McGonagall, "if Dumbledore finds out—"

The door of the ward was suddenly knocked open. Bill opened the curtains, and everyone around was staring at the door, not noticing Harry sitting up and putting on his glasses.

Fudge strode into the ward. Professor McGonagall and Snape followed closely behind.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge asked Mrs Weasley.

"He's not here," Mrs. Weasley said angrily. "Minister, this is the ward, do you think you'd better—"

But at this moment, the door opened, and Dumbledore walked quickly into the ward.

"What happened?" asked Dumbledore sternly, looking at Fudge and then at Professor McGonagall, "Why are you bothering these people here? Minerva, you really make me Surprised—I told you to guard Barty Crouch Jr—"

"There is no need to watch him, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. "The Minister has made sure of that!"

No one has ever seen Professor McGonagall be so impulsive. An angry flush appeared on her cheeks, her hands clenched into fists. She was shaking with anger.

"We told Mr. Fudge that we found out that You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters were responsible for tonight's events," Snape whispered, "and he seemed to feel that his personal safety was also in question. He had to summon a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought the dementor into the office where Barty Crouch Jr was—"

"I told him you wouldn't agree, Dumbledore!" said Professor McGonagall angrily, "I told him you won't let the dementors enter the castle again, but—that guy— As soon as the guy came into the office," she screamed, gesturing at Fudge, trembling all over, "just pounced on Crouch and just—just—"

Professor McGonagall struggled to find words to describe what had just happened, and Gwen felt a chill in her stomach. Everyone could guess what the Dementors did. The Dementor must have given Barty Crouch Jr. that fatal kiss.

"According to all accounts, he deserved it!" Fudge said aggressively. "He seems to have caused several deaths!"

"But he can't testify now, Connelly," said Dumbledore. He stared sharply at Fudge, as if seeing him clearly for the first time. "He can't provide evidence as to why he killed those people."

"Why did he kill them? Hey, isn't that obvious!" said Fudge in a huff. "He's a wandering lunatic!"

"Voldemort did give him orders before, Connelly," said Dumbledore. "Those people died as a by-product of Voldemort's plan to come back. That plan worked. Voldemort returned. his body."

Fudge paled in shock, as if someone had hit him in the face. He blinked dazedly and stared blankly at Dumbledore, as if he couldn't quite believe what he had just heard. He stammered, still staring at Dumbledore.

"You-Know-Who... is back? Nonsense. No kidding, Dumbledore..."

"Severus has undoubtedly told you," said Dumbledore, "and you yourself heard Barty Crouch Jr.'s confession. Under the influence of Veritaserum, Little Crouch has made it clear - he helped Voldemort make a comeback."

"Listen to me, Dumbledore," said Fudge, and Harry was surprised to see a smile on his face, "you—you can't really believe this. Mysterious. Man - back? No kidding, no kidding... Needless to say, little Crouch probably thought he was acting on the orders of Man-of-You-Know-but how could such a lunatic be taken seriously, Dumbledore..."

"Tonight, when Harry touched the Triwizard Cup, he was sent directly to Voldemort." Dumbledore said firmly, "He saw Voldemort come back to life. You might as well Come to my office and I will explain everything to you."

The students who heard this covered their mouths and exclaimed, and then they understood what Harry experienced tonight - the boy confronted Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

Fudge still had that eccentric smile on his face. He looked at Harry too, then turned back to Dumbledore, and said, "You - um - you're going to take Harry's word for it, aren't you, Dumbledore?"

There was a moment of silence, then Sirius' roar sounded. He stood up abruptly, baring his teeth at Fudge, as if he were going to bite the hypocrite's throat if he said one more word.

"Of course I believe Harry," said Dumbledore, his eyes glowing, "I heard little Crouch's confession, and Harry's account of how he touched three What happened after the Strong Cup; they both made sense and explained everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."

Fudge still had that weird smile on his face. He glanced at Harry again before replying:

"You're ready to believe that Voldemort has returned, to a lunatic murderer and a child who...he..."

Fudge gave Harry another quick glance, and Harry suddenly understood what he meant.

"You must be reading Rita Skeeter, Mr. Fudge," he said softly.

Hermione, Gwen and the Weasleys were taken aback. None of them noticed that Harry was awake.

Fudge flushed slightly, but then a stubborn and stubborn expression appeared on his face.

"Also I found out," he said, looking at Dumbledore, "I found out that you've been hiding something about this kid? He's a Parseltongue, isn't he? Behavior There's something odd about the behavior—"

“I think you probably mean