Volume 5: The Burning Golden Flame Chapter 391 Gambling Every Second
Batty Jr. knew exactly what he was going to do next.
The biggest problem now is no longer the invasion of the headmaster's office by Dumbledore's men, but how to conceal the fact that Voldemort has lost contact.
Both Barty Jr. and Snape knew very well that the reason why the pure-bloods had been able to fight against Dumbledore and his team for so long and had the upper hand most of the time was because of their master's extraordinary strength.
And now, especially when Dumbledore is still in Hogwarts, if they knew that no one in the castle and the Ministry of Magic could contact Voldemort, no one would be able to guarantee what the unstoppable Dumbledore could do.
Although Batty felt panicked about this matter, he was not scared.
Because Voldemort's disappearance for no reason was not the first time. More than ten years ago, they had experienced such a month. At that time, everyone knew about his disappearance, which almost led to the annihilation of the Death Eaters. The fence-sitters began to turn to the former Ministry of Magic, and the diehards were all arrested and sent to Azkaban.
Fortunately, Voldemort appeared in time and became even more powerful than before, thus recovering all the losses in that month.
This time, the only two people who knew the inside story, Barty and Snape, would certainly not let such a thing happen again.
Soon, on the second day after the Christmas ball, Barty Jr. and Snape summoned all the newspaper reporters currently in Hogwarts Castle and the three referees of the Federation and informed them that a thief had broken into Hogwarts Castle last night.
"The castle is heavily guarded. I think everyone who has lived here during this period knows better than anyone else. Even if there is no obvious answer yet, the real answer is already in everyone's mind."
Little Barty's face was very serious, and he stared at Matthew who was sitting in the front row.
"This is undoubtedly a blatant violation of the rules and order of the Triwizard Tournament. Regarding this competition, we generously invited certain people to come in, but this did not change their wolfish ambitions. It's like a host opening the door and warmly welcoming a group of thieves. They seem to be sitting honestly in the seats we prepared for them, but in fact they have already walked around the entire room and stolen the property that belongs to the host."
He did not mention anyone's name explicitly, but if you carefully observe who is missing from the scene, you will know who Batty is scolding.
"As the most impartial referee of this game, I think you should say something, Mr. Graves."
As Barty Jr. finished his words, everyone's eyes turned to Matthew.
Matthew frowned, feeling puzzled by this incident.
"I am the referee of the Triwizard Tournament, not the referee of your fight. There are still four days until the second event begins. Whatever happens between you has nothing to do with us."
"But they are committing this despicable act at a ball held for this competition !"
Barty Jr.'s voice echoed in the auditorium, and his words were so powerful that they silenced all the whispers from below.
"I have explained this to my master, and he didn't care about what these thieves did, but the master may not care, but we can't ignore it."
He looked down at Matthew.
"I won't make it difficult for you, Mr. Graves. You just need to help convey the message to that person and tell him that we are not unaware of what he has done. Now is not the time for the final reckoning, so we will wait and see."
After saying this, Barty Jr. left the Great Hall, and Snape followed him, also frowning.
"You can do this to hide it from Dumbledore?"
"How do you think we should deal with this?" Little Barty said coldly, "Pretend that we know nothing and nothing happened? That's the stupidest thing to do. Tell them clearly that we have lost our confidence. What we need to do now is to speak out loudly about this matter, let the entire magic world know, and let them know that we know. This is the best way to do it."
Snape obviously didn't agree.
"But if you say it out loud like this but don't do anything, what's the point? Doesn't it make us look even more insecure and weak?"
"That's because you already know that the master has lost contact with us. Let's make an assumption. If the master is still in touch with us, what do you think he will do to Dumbledore and his group after knowing this?"
Snape was silent for a moment as he put the situation into perspective.
"The master will not do anything to Dumbledore or his students."
Little Barty looked at Snape with interest.
"How did you come to such a conclusion?"
"The master takes this Triwizard Tournament very seriously. Everything he did before was to make way for this competition. Now, there are only a few days left before the second event begins. As long as nothing happens that touches his bottom line, he will just pretend to ignore it and let the competition go on."
Snape's answer proved to little Barty that he was not a brainless idiot.
"So our reaction now is the most correct. We speak out loudly and let everyone know, so that Dumbledore will at least suffer in terms of public opinion. But we don't take any clear countermeasures against them afterwards. Only we know it's because we can't contact the master anymore. Others won't think of this at all. They will only think that the master is still the same as before, swallowing his anger in order to let the Triwizard Tournament continue."
"Are you sure that what Dumbledore had people do in the headmaster's office did not cross the master's bottom line?"
Little Barty said softly.
"I'm betting. The cause of this incident was planned by us, and everything Dumbledore and the others did was just going with the flow. I'm betting that they couldn't carry out more critical plans at the ball yesterday, and could only extend our plan. And we found that the four things in the headmaster's office were not lost, right?"
"You're taking a risk." Snape looked at him deeply.
Little Batty said nonchalantly.
"From now on, the moment we know our master is missing, every second we take a risk makes no difference."
…
Matthew quickly found Dumbledore after learning what happened in the castle.
Dumbledore listened carefully to Matthew's narration of what Barty Jr. said in the hall, and a very surprised expression appeared on his face.
"I have no idea what happened last night."
Matthew expressed full trust in Dumbledore's words.
"Of course I also believe that you will not provoke them to do anything at this time. For you, you can only proceed with the Triwizard Tournament in peace. Winning the competition is already the best result."
Dumbledore nodded in agreement, and behind him, all the headmasters nodded in agreement.
"So what does Crouch mean by this? Did someone really break into the castle during last night's ball, or did they just want to find an excuse to cause trouble for us before the second game?"
In response to Dumbledore's questions, Matthew also gave his own opinion.
"No matter what, I don't think they will do anything that will affect the upcoming competition. You know, Albus, he takes the Triwizard Tournament so seriously, he will definitely not give up halfway."
Dumbledore looked thoughtful.
"Maybe not before, but now Beauxbatons and the castle warriors are both behind in the score, and no one can guarantee whether he has changed his mind."
Hearing him say this, Matthew looked serious.
"I can assure you, Albus, that I will ensure that the rest of the game goes smoothly, and as long as the blood oath between you and him is not broken, there will be no problems."
"Of course I believe your assurance."
Dumbledore smiled at the right moment.
Then they exchanged a few more pleasantries, and Matthew finally reminded them to be prepared for the second game on January 1st, then said goodbye and left.
The office fell into silence again.
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, frowning slightly.
"Is this the result we've been waiting for?"
Slytherin continued his words calmly.
"According to our estimates, if Riddle came to see you in person today, it means that he still cares about the layout of the principal's office. If he didn't come, it means that he doesn't care whether we know his progress or not."
"But he has someone coming now, and it's Matthew Graves again."
Dumbledore said absentmindedly.
"So, what exactly is he trying to do? To capture the castle, and then what? To win the Triwizard Tournament? But does he really want to win?"
No one could answer his question, and the air fell into silence again.
…
As long as there is news, the reporters from these magic newspapers will of course report it, and soon little Barty's remarks appeared in major magic newspapers the next day.
But in fact, this information that has not been officially confirmed did not cause much stir in the wizarding world, because the day the newspaper was published was December 27, and there were only three days left before the start of the second event of the Triwizard Tournament.
Compared to who broke , more people were paying more attention to the progress of the competition.
It was in such an environment that the first day of 1995 arrived, and the specific rules of the second event of the Triwizard Tournament were officially announced by Matthew on the grass beside the Black Lake.
