HP in the name of Slytherin

Of course, you can't come empty-handed when you visit her. Even if Catherine and Tom seem to be just children, Miss Slytherin will not be rude in such a place.

Amy had prepared gifts in advance, Catherine and Tom were in the morning, and Dumbledore was in the dark. It was a leisurely afternoon when they arrived at Crouch's house.

The single-family villa is sandwiched in a special space in the Muggle community. The building in front of it is still brand new, but when you come to Crouch's house, it seems to have increased its age by a hundred years out of thin air. It has an obvious Victorian style, iron, glass and concrete. The mix of materials presents a cold iron-gray Gothic building. Even though the front yard is decorated with a Christmas tree with a strong Christmas atmosphere, the whole house still looks very deserted.

Catherine and Tom came outside the courtyard and stood for two seconds through the iron gate when a house elf appeared inside the door.

"Yes... they are the little master's friends!" the house elf said in a high-pitched voice, but did not come up to open the door immediately, "Winky will go find the master now!"

Although she sounded excited and enthusiastic, she actually didn't even say hello to Catherine and the others because she didn't know their names at all.

Tom frowned and was speechless. It was the same way last time when they sent little Barty back. The elf didn't dare to say anything and just took little Barty away. He was so anxious that he and Catherine were terrible giants. Strange.

"Mr. Crouch will be just at home." Catherine reassured Tom.

Last time he sent it back, the elf said to inform the mistress. This time he directly mentioned the owner, who was obviously Mr. Barty Crouch.

Mr. Barty Crouch did not go to the Ministry of Magic to work overtime today, which is rare. According to Barty Jr., his father is mostly at the Ministry of Magic and rarely comes home, or it is already late at night when he comes back. Fell asleep.

From the outside, Mr. Crouch is as serious as the house. Even at home, he is meticulously dressed, with his hair neatly combed. When he looks at Catherine and Tom from inside the door, he greets them while lowering his eyes and looking at them coldly. , seems very difficult to approach.

"Hello Mr. Crouch, we are friends of Barty Jr., I am Catherine Slytherin, and this is my brother, Tom Slytherin... I came to play with him at his invitation today." Catherine slowly As he spoke, he carefully observed Crouch's situation.

Voldemort's magic field is the same as Catherine's. If you look at a person's appearance and magic power fluctuations, you can't tell whether the other person has been disturbed by magic.

Unless some key information set by the "master" is triggered, such as when Catherine mentioned her name, Crouch, who was originally looking at her indifferently, was obviously in a daze for a moment.

But unlike Abraxas, who was directly possessed by Voldemort, Barty Crouch was obviously not at such a high level. He just softened his expression a little, and originally seemed not to let them in at all. He took a step back to allow them to enter.

The elf he had just seen opened the door immediately and bowed his body to invite Catherine and Tom to enter.

Catherine took two steps forward, stood on the line between the inside and outside of the door, and pretended to hand the gift to Crouch.

Crouch didn't seem to think much about it. He was serious, and he didn't show any objection to Catherine's not-so-strict gift-giving. He reached out to take it without frowning and said "thank you" lightly.

This is different from the father that little Barty said had many rules and would scold him at every turn.

Tom only thought that Catherine was testing Crouch. In fact, Catherine also cracked the protective magic of Crouch's family, so that if Voldemort dared to come over later, she would be the quickest to detect it, and in turn use the home magic circle to interfere with Voldemort.

The three of them entered the room together, and the very regular sound of the piano could be heard in the hall, faintly coming from upstairs.

Seemingly sensing their doubts, Crouch said dryly: "He is still practicing."

The door closed quickly.

Tom immediately clenched the wand silently, but Catherine remained very calm on her face and asked with a smile: "Then we wait for him?"

Crouch continued to lead them to the reception room, and the piano, which had been paused for a few seconds, sounded again, and the tune was much more urgent than before.

Crouch visibly frowned, glanced upstairs, and then glanced down at the two children behind him, as if he was hesitating whether to go up and take care of little Barty who was not practicing the piano well.

In the end, he chose to take Catherine and the others to the drawing room.

The house elf had prepared black tea and snacks, and Crouch said calmly: "Sit down and wait for him."

Catherine was very polite and took Tom to say thank you softly and sit down calmly.

Crouch's magic fluctuations were chaotic for a moment, and Catherine, who had been paying attention to him, accurately captured it. The next moment, Crouch asked Catherine: "When did Miss Slytherin and my son meet?"

"A long time ago, when I was in Diagon Alley, I saw little Barty following the parade." Catherine took a sip of black tea and added with a smile, "It was the parade of Death Eaters."

Crouch's expression remained motionless, as straight as a sculpture, and he continued to ask: "I mean, your relationship with him has improved and you came to visit your home. I haven't even heard him talk about it."

If it were before, little Barty might have said something, but now he obviously suspected that his father was "sick", so naturally he wouldn't say anything. The number of times he made trouble every day in the past has decreased.

Just as Catherine was about to speak, there was the sound of someone coming downstairs. Catherine and Tom knew who it was without turning around. Crouch's brows were already furrowed, he held the armrest of the sofa tightly to restrain himself for several seconds, and finally suddenly Get up.

Catherine pretended to be frightened and pulled Tom to stand up. Crouch hesitated for a few times and suddenly shouted: "Little Barty Crouch, where is your upbringing!"

Little Barty had already run downstairs and stood outside the living room, roaring like a little lion aroused with the desire to fight: "I invited my friends to play at home, why are you questioning me!"

"I am your father!"

"They are my friends!"

The father and son seemed to be competing to see whose voice was louder. Barty Jr. looked really unhappy, but Crouch's expression twitched several times during the process, as if he wanted to restrain his anger, but Barty Jr. was beaten every time. Precise ignition.

Crouch: "I'm just concerned about your friendship."

Barty Jr.: "Are you an Auror? You have to interrogate anyone I play with!"

Crouch: "You don't look like an 11-year-old child!"

Little Barty: "Why didn't you remember that I was an 11-year-old child when you asked me to read so many books every day?"

Crouch took a deep breath and shook his hands as if to dig into his pockets. Little Barty stared at him with wide eyes and a defiant face.

Catherine suddenly asked inappropriately: "Is Mrs. Crouch at home?"

Crouch frowned, but before he could speak, Barty Jr. spoke first: "My mother went to have a beauty treatment."

"You..." Crouch was about to turn back to address Barty Jr. when he caught a glimpse of a ray of light from the corner of his eye.

Catherine: "Collapsed."

The world is quiet.