Volume 5: The Burning Golden Flame Chapter 383 Granger's Game
Snape didn't say anything. He just listened quietly to what Barty continued to say. He knew that he didn't need to act as a supporting actor. Barty would tell him all his plans himself, because tonight was the time to see the results.
"I told you before that I researched a lot of information about Jon Green, not only his experiences before and after he entered the carriage to go to school. I also went to the Weasley idiot in the Ministry of Magic to learn some things. Among them, there was information about which girls Jon Green was closest to in school."
"I learned from him that the only person on the carriage was the Mudblood girl whom he had rescued from the castle in front of everyone. Hermione Granger was the one who had a closer relationship with him. The idiot thought I wanted to hear his complaints, so he told me that when he had an argument with Jon Green, this girl named Granger stood by and defended Jon Green. This kind of thing is perfectly normal. The story of a hero saving a beautiful girl and falling in love at first sight is not uncommon in both the wizarding world and the dirty Muggle society. If Jon Green had to choose a dance partner for the ball, the most likely choice would be this girl named Hermione."
"After reaching this conclusion, investigating Hermione is much simpler. She lived in the castle for more than a year, and not all the Mudbloods of her grade were rescued. I extracted the memories of several Mudbloods who knew her, and it became very clear what kind of personality this girl has. Brave, kind, and compassionate. Ha, at first glance, all of these are weaknesses. She is a simple and easy target to deal with. It may not be easy to deceive Jon Green about some things. The boy doesn't look like a student of this age at all. He can see some things at a glance, and it is much easier to target a little girl like this who is also fifteen years old but unknown."
Little Barty squinted his eyes and looked through the crowd with a smile as he saw Hermione raising her right hand towards the candlelight. The white bracelet on it was not noticeable.
"See? The bait has been successfully hung on the hook. As long as the bait you made is confirmed to be fine, we will have a good show tonight."
Snape's voice was calm. He did not look at the bracelet in Hermione's hand that he had made himself, but looked at the candlesticks floating in the air in the hall. The bright candlelight reflected his empty eyes.
"So far, there has never been a mistake in the potions I have brewed. If you had doubts about my ability, you would not have come to me to share the credit that should have belonged to you."
Little Batty crossed his legs and leaned back in a relaxed manner. He looked at the dancing candlesticks gradually gathering in the center of the auditorium. After a band dressed in tattered non-mainstream clothing came on stage, the entire auditorium began to become quiet.
"Then let us enjoy it slowly."
As he finished speaking, melodious music began to sound softly in the already quiet auditorium, which meant that today's dance was about to begin.
When the lantern on the table went out, Jon pulled Hermione up from her chair, and Diane and George also stood up beside them.
Not only them, but also Draco holding the girl named Pansy, and Emil hugging the girl named Selwyn, they danced to the center of the hall to the sad and quiet music.
They were being watched by everyone around them, and Jon felt a little uncomfortable, but luckily the dance steps he had practiced with Rosier for two months finally came in handy, and he didn't do anything stupid like accidentally stepping on Hermione's fair feet.
"To be honest, I always feel like you and Professor Dumbledore are hiding something from me."
Jon's face was very close to Hermione's, and he could even clearly feel each other's warm breath. It was the first time he was so close to a girl. In addition, he had no interest in dancing, so he simply found some topics to talk about at this time.
"It's not that I'm hiding it from you, but the professor said that dealing with the competition will take up enough of your energy, so there's no need for you to know about some things we can handle."
Jon put his arm around Hermione's slender waist and spun around in a circle.
"So what are you going to do tonight?"
"You really want to know?"
Hermione looked at Jon, blinking her long eyelashes, and her eyes reflected in the candlelight were like twinkling stars in the dark night.
"Perhaps you could tell me about me?"
Hearing his words, Hermione couldn't help but laugh. The moment the corners of her mouth curled up into a beautiful arc, it seemed to make everything around her pale in comparison.
"Then everything that happened tonight should be related to you."
Jon was a little puzzled by Hermione's answer. He felt that he had been living a leisurely life these days, either going fishing or on the way to fishing. How could it all be related to him?
"We're going to take a break halfway through the dance, and then I'll go to the bathroom. Then another me will come back and we'll continue to sit in the hall for a while, and then we'll go out for a walk in the garden."
Hermione didn't continue playing riddles. She leaned close to Jon's ear and whispered while changing her dance steps to the melody.
"There will be a lot of people watching us, especially the two behind me now."
John raised his head as if casually, and then he saw Barty Crouch Jr., who was leisurely leaning on a recliner on the platform, and Severus Snape, who seemed to have no expression on his face for 365 days.
"Do they have plans to target us today?"
With just a quick thought, Jon could guess that the cause must be these two people.
"Remember the half-blood girl in the castle who was on good terms with me before?"
"Yes, I remember her name is Asia Conrad."
"Why do you remember someone's name so clearly? Especially when you are dancing with a lady and you say it out loud."
"Ahem, it's nothing. I just thought you were too close to her. Don't let someone trick you into falling for it."
"She's not a liar. She was just used by a bunch of bad liars. I have always kept my distance from the students in the castle, no matter who they are. Didn't you wonder why I suddenly got so close to Asia?"
"I thought you were bored in the carriage."
"No matter how bored I am, I know my limits. It's dangerous to contact anyone or anything in the castle at this time. That day when I rescued her from those pure-blood students and you were there, after Asia went back, I kept an eye on her movements and who she contacted in the castle on the Marauder's Map. This is our greatest advantage. With the Marauder's Map, these people in the castle have no secrets from us, but they don't know this."
"So you saw Crouch or Snape in contact with Assia on the Marauder's Map?"
"To be precise, it was only Barty Crouch. He had contact with Asia, but each contact was very short, and it was as if the two of them just met accidentally in the castle. But even if it was just this, I could make a conclusion, that is, whether Asia knew it or not, her contact with me must be related to Crouch. After confirming this, I immediately went to find Professor Dumbledore, which was the evening of the day we rescued Asia."
"Did the professor ask you not to make it public?"
"Professor Dumbledore said that their ultimate goal must be you, and that using Asia to contact me is very likely just to use me as a springboard. The professor didn't say how to deal with it, but he said he wanted to hear my opinion. At that time, I was still doubting whether Asia knew what she was doing, so I decided to continue to get along with her for a while and then I discovered the second problem."
Hermione gently waved her hand on Jon's shoulder, and the white beads on the bracelet made a crisp sound when they hit each other.
"My mother has worn this bracelet before, but I remember it very clearly. When my father gave it to my mother as a gift, he said that it was a commemorative model for that year. Only a few were sold. My father was lucky enough to win the purchase qualification, so he bought this one. After that, there was no more of the same model for sale. But Asia told me at the time that it was a gift from her mother on her 11th birthday. I was sure at that time that it was definitely not a gift from her mother, but someone specially found the same bracelet that my mother was wearing and handed it to her, just to attract my attention. The only person in the entire Hogwarts Castle who had seen my mother was Barty Crouch, who took me away from home."
Jon couldn't help being distracted as he listened to Hermione's calm analysis. He didn't forget that Hermione was really only fifteen years old!
"That was the day I discovered that there was something wrong with the bracelet. I was sure that Asia had been kept in the dark from beginning to end. She was just an ordinary girl who was bullied in Hogwarts Castle and was going to sacrifice herself in exchange for the safety of her family. It was also at that time that I found Professor Dumbledore and told him all my findings. I also discussed with him that perhaps we could use this conspiracy to use me as a springboard to target you and complete some of the plans we had been struggling to figure out how to complete."
