[HP] Similar but different

"The Invisibility Cloak... I happen to know someone who likes to use this." Mr. Malfoy said with a half-sneer and half-sarcasm, "Come out, Potter, I know it's you."

Harry lowered his head and saw Wormtail's foot sticking out in a hurry, and his heart sank.He didn't know how much they'd seen; but if he could stall a little longer, maybe Hermione would be able to contact the Order in time...

He took off the invisibility cloak, threw it into the side corridor--that's where the other two rays of light came from just now--then straightened up and lifted the Disillusionment Charm on himself.

The moment they saw the two clearly, the Death Eaters let out a slight gasp.

Mr. Malfoy raised his eyebrows suspiciously. "What's new, Potter, one?" He glanced around the corner and back at Harry. "And two more? Though I wish you'd told me you didn't bring scum and mudbloods into me." House of."

"You can't say that about Ron and Hermione!" Harry retorted angrily.

Mr. Malfoy raised his eyebrows again, as if amused.But before he could taunt Harry again, Bedivere said, "What are you doing in someone else's house, Mr. Potter?"

The sound... Harry's eyes moved to Bedivere's face.After the panic of being discovered passed, he keenly realized that Bedivere was Barty Crouch Jr.Given this premise, Wormtail's escape suddenly makes sense: an Auror went into Malfoy Manor, not a Death Eater...

He looked at the unconscious man at his feet, and at the Death Eaters behind Bedivere who dared not move rashly, determined to make sure first. "Who are you?"

There was another murmur from the crowd, but Bedivere - or Crouch Jr. - paid no attention. "Adam Bedwell," he replied dryly, "Chief of the Auror Office."

No one really spoke at this moment, even Mr. Malfoy turned pale, and his wand drooped slightly.Harry recalled his most recent encounter with young Crouch - in Voldemort's bogstone house - and couldn't help but stare at the monocle again.The man under the lens was as expressionless as if they had never seen them before; he could have poked through the disguise, but that wouldn't do him any good...

Harry knew what he had to do. "I'm on the trail of a Death Eater," he met Crouch's gaze without evading. "He leaked the whereabouts of my parents to Voldemort, leading to their deaths."

There was another muffled groan, but Harry suspected it was just the Death Eaters' fear and anger at him calling Voldemort's name.

Little Crouch's cheek muscles twitched imperceptibly. "You captured Sirius Black?"

Harry shook his head. "It's Peter Pedrew I'm grabbing." He bent over and turned Wormtail over, revealing his closed-lidded face. "He's the one who killed a whole street of Muggles and put the blame on Black. He too My parents' true secret keeper."

Hearing this, Little Crouch walked forward.Harry gave way reluctantly to let the other party check.The moment the man crouched down, cruelty and ecstasy seemed to flash in his eyes; but that was totally illogical, and Harry felt that he must be too nervous to hallucinate.

"No pretense," Little Crouch announced in a deep voice within half a minute, "It is indeed Peter Pedrew." He got up and walked back, and happened to stop between Harry and Mr. Malfoy . "He should have died long ago, and the dead will not be resurrected."

The entire corridor was instantly so quiet that a needle could be heard.

"This is interesting." Little Crouch said, but his tone was cold and not interesting at all. "I heard earlier that Sirius Black was the Potter couple's secret keeper. When the tragedy happened, Peter Pedro wanted revenge on him, but Black blew him away, along with a whole street of Muggles. About four years ago, Black broke out; and now," he pouted in Wormtail's direction, "Pedro alive."

No one interrupted, and even Mr. Malfoy looked a bit puzzled.

"I think it's necessary for me to listen to your version, Mr. Potter." Little Crouch concluded.

Harry narrowed his eyes slightly.He wasn't sure what Crouch Jr. was up to, and he didn't think the other Death Eaters knew either. "Just like what I said," he said, pondering, "Pedro leaked the secret, and Black wanted revenge on him. But Pedro was too cunning—he yelled so loudly that the whole street knew it, and used Explosions as cover, sneaking out of the sewers as rats...he's an illegal Animagus."

Little Crouch stared at Harry for a moment, still expressionless. "That sounds like a reasonable explanation," he said. "I suppose it was the Anti-Animagus Charm you just cast on him?"

Harry nodded, carefully hiding his sweaty palms - if it was only him, Wormtail wouldn't pass out, but one of Ron and Hermione used the same spell as him; if the power of the spell was questioned, he should how to explain?

But Crouch Jr. turned to Mr. Malfoy. "Can you explain why this man was found in your house on the ground?"

Mr. Malfoy froze for a moment, clearly not expecting this development at all.But he calmed down quickly and put away his wand at the same time. "I have no idea." He firmly denied. "Although I hate rats, I really can't promise to catch every rat."

Little Crouch nodded, then turned to look at Harry again. "How do you know Pedro is an illegal Animagus?"

"He used to be a friend of my dad's," Harry said, thinking that he couldn't voluntarily admit his connection to Sirius until Pettigrew pleaded guilty. "That's what another friend of my dad's told me."

Little Crouch nodded again. "And how do you know Pedro is here?"

Harry subconsciously raised his eyes, searching the crowd for Draco Malfoy.He did catch a glimpse of that pale pointed face just now, but it was gone now.He went to look at Mr. Malfoy again, only to be surprised to find that he was also looking at him, his thin lips turned white.

"Mr. Potter?"

Harry came back to himself. "A friend of mine has a cat," he said, "that's smart enough to tell when certain mice aren't real mice, and to follow the tiny trails they leave."

Crouch Jr. pushed his glasses, seeming rather skeptical of the answer. "You came with a cat?"

Harry nodded, not looking at Mr. Malfoy again.

"Well, since you said that..." Little Crouch stared at Harry, his gaze filled with scrutiny for the first time, "Pedro must be brought back to the Ministry of Magic for further investigation."

Hearing this decision, the originally quiet crowd made a slight objection.

Little Crouch turned around. "What? Does one of you happen to know this Pietro Pedro and want to defend him?" he asked softly, with an inappropriate interest.

He was answered by dead silence.Little Crouch waited for a full minute before continuing his previous words: "Go back to where you should be, Mr. Potter. Others can go too. As for Mr. Malfoy, Aurors will come to the manor later I hope you can cooperate with the investigation."

"My pleasure." Mr. Malfoy nodded immediately, his cheeks pale.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Malfoy." Little Crouch nodded back.The hallway emptied quickly, as if the people couldn't wait to get out of here, but he noticed that Harry didn't move a step. "Do you have any questions, Mr. Potter?"

"I want to know who will take him away." Harry said without flinching, pointing to Wormtail. "He's too good at running away, so I'm not sure."

These words should be a great offense to the ability of the Auror office director, but little Crouch showed the first smile when he entered the door.He took out a box-shaped thing from the pocket of his robe, and quickly fiddled with it a few times.

But in the blink of an eye, four men Apparated from the air.They were all Aurors, including Kingsley Shacklebolt.Seeing Harry, Kingsley showed a surprised expression, but fortunately, his colleagues had the same reaction——

"Harry Potter!"

"Peter Pettigrew!"

Two of them screamed, but Crouch Jr. didn't stop them. "I know you all, that's good, it saves me the trouble of explaining." He pointed to Kingsley, and then pointed to the big man next to Kingsley, "Both of you, take Pedro to the Ministry, Dispose of it according to the regulations. The other two, go and help Mr. Malfoy, there may be some loopholes in the protection of his manor."

Mr. Malfoy's already indescribable expression became even more indescribable.But he still said, "I'll show you the way, gentlemen." When he left, he glanced at Harry with a complicated expression.

Soon Harry and Crouch Jr. were alone in the hallway.Harry thought that little Crouch might warn him alone, but after the other party gave him a half-smile expression, he left neatly.

This made Harry stunned.What the hell is Little Crouch doing here today?He hesitated for a while, and finally decided to go back and discuss it with his friends-the Invisibility Cloak was no longer in the corridor, and Ron and Hermione must have taken it with them when they left.He ran out of the mansion in a hurry and found that it was snowing outside at some point.When stepping through the thin layer of translucent white, he couldn't help thinking——

He succeeded, and this is the best Christmas present for Sirius;

But what would Voldemort say?

Meanwhile, little Crouch was speeding through the deserted Ministry of Magic halls.The sound of the dragon leather hard boots colliding with the black ground echoed in the tall space, but he turned a deaf ear to it——

"Wormtail knows your face, Barty."

"Both the minister and the director happen to trust me very much, my lord."

"And I don't want to see a crack in this trust... No matter what the process is, Wormtail will definitely be brought to trial, and he will definitely try to confess everything he knows about us to reduce his sentence. If He testified against you in public, Barty?"

"Master, what do you mean..."

"First strike is stronger!"

Recalling a certain late night before, that cruel and fanatical look appeared on Little Crouch's face again.