"Just thinking about it makes it obvious that it's impossible," Arthur said, sounding mildly exasperated.
He really didn't understand why Snape would even consider such a theory.
"With Voldemort's personality, do you really think he'd teach sothing like Horcruxes to anyone else?" Arthur continued. "That's his idea of immortality—sothing he believes belongs to him alone."
He paused for a mont, then added, "If that were truly the case, then as a servant, Barty Crouch Jr. would have—"
Halfway through the sentence, Arthur suddenly stopped, as if a thought had crossed his mind.
"Then why did he appear there?" Snape asked imdiately.
Arthur briefly explained how Barty Crouch Jr. had survived—how his mother had used a body swap to take his place in Azkaban, how he'd been secretly kept alive afterward, and how events had unfolded since.
By the ti Arthur finished, Snape was left speechless.
He'd once thought Azkaban letting Sirius Black escape was already bad enough.
Now it turned out that more than a decade ago, soone had successfully pulled a 狸猫换太子—a full-on body substitution—right under the Ministry's nose.
And this was supposed to be the most secure prison in all of Britain?
Then again… Britain only had one public wizarding prison.
Calling it "the most secure" wasn't exactly wrong.
"So," Arthur said, glancing at Snape, "you brought up Barty Crouch Jr. because you sensed sothing was off, didn't you?"
Arthur didn't believe for a second that Snape would be worried about Crouch Jr. himself.
With Snape's strength, even at his peak, Barty wasn't an opponent he couldn't handle—especially not in his current state.
Snape fell silent for a mont before finally speaking.
"I don't know why," he said slowly. "But when I saw him… I had a very bad feeling. As if… sothing worse is coming."
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
He'd just ntioned that a wizard's intuition could be frighteningly accurate. Dreams, premonitions—things that magic itself often failed to explain.
If Snape had that kind of instinctive warning, then Voldemort might truly have returned to Britain already, hiding sowhere in the shadows.
But honestly?
What did that have to do with Arthur?
He wasn't afraid of Voldemort in the slightest.
If anything, Voldemort should be afraid of him.
By now, Arthur had already destroyed five of Voldemort's Horcruxes.
The only remaining fragnt was the piece lodged in Harry's scar.
As for Nagini—she'd long since been taken away by Arthur. Whether Voldemort had managed to create a seventh Horcrux or not was anyone's guess.
Arthur's attitude was simple:
Let Voldemort make a fuss if he wanted—it was free entertainnt.
But if Voldemort ever dared to jump out in front of him?
Arthur would make sure he regretted being reborn.
"So what if Voldemort cos back?" Arthur said casually.
"Between Ranni and , which one of us can't beat him? What's there to worry about?"
Hearing that, the deep crease between Snape's brows finally eased.
That was true.
With Arthur and Ranni around, what was there to fear?
Even if Voldemort truly returned, they'd deal with it when the ti ca.
"If you're still uneasy," Arthur added lightly, "you could always call Dumbledore back. He's been wandering around Albania for over a year and hasn't found anything. If Voldemort really has returned, staying there won't help him anymore."
...
anwhile, the Barty Crouch Jr. that Arthur and Snape were discussing—
Was currently hiding in a house near a graveyard, plotting with Voldemort how to obtain Harry Potter's blood.
Present as well was Peter Pettigrew.
Two days earlier, Voldemort and Pettigrew had arrived in Britain.
After Barty Crouch Jr. was captured by Fudge and handed over to Barty Crouch Sr., his father refused to send him back to Azkaban—but also didn't dare let him roam free.
So he imprisoned Barty Jr. inside their ho instead.
As for the house-elf Winky—she was dismissed under the excuse of "negligence."
That was when Voldemort, using Pettigrew, took control of Barty Crouch Sr. and freed Barty Jr.
Although Crouch Sr. still went to work at the Ministry as usual, in truth, he was already under Voldemort's control.
Once reunited with his loyal servant, Voldemort imdiately went to the graveyard where his father was buried.
The bones had already been dug up.
Voldemort, Barty Jr., and Pettigrew were gathered there, making their preparations.
Not far away, the old graveyard caretaker was boiling water in a kettle.
When he turned around and noticed lights on in a house that had been abandoned for years, he assud it was just so teenagers sneaking out at night for a bravery test.
Thinking it wouldn't take long, he didn't even turn off the stove.
Lantern in hand, he walked toward the house, intending to chase them off.
The elderly man had no idea—
He was walking straight toward his death.
As a Muggle, he stood no chance of hiding from Voldemort.
Voldemort noticed him instantly and offered a "warm welco"—
A single Avada Kedavra.
The caretaker's scream rang out.
At the sa mont, the kettle behind him reached a rolling boil.
The scene perfectly mirrored the strange nightmare Harry had suffered days earlier.
...
Ti flew by, and before anyone realized it, the new school year had arrived.
Students boarded the Hogwarts Express one after another.
Arthur's compartnt was, as always, the familiar arrangent—four girls and one boy.
When Harry passed by, he greeted Arthur.
"Arthur, when did you get back? Why didn't you tell ?"
"Just a few days ago," Arthur replied.
"I figured school was about to start anyway, so we'd see each other soon."
Harry was about to say more when a voice ca from behind him.
"Excuse —could you move aside, please?"
Harry turned around and saw a Ravenclaw girl.
She had black hair, the sa color as Arthur's—rare among British wizards.
She was Cho Chang.
Her robes made her look a little fuller than she actually was, but beneath them, her figure was slim and graceful.
(Here, she followed the movie portrayal.)
Even so, Harry froze.
To be precise, he'd noticed Cho back in the previous year's Inter-House Quidditch match.
She was a Seeker like him—and a year older.
Arthur watched Harry step aside in a daze, then stare after Cho as she left.
Honestly, Arthur thought Ginny looked better than Cho.
Was this a difference in Eastern and Western aesthetics?
Or did Harry simply have… unusual taste?
"If you like her, go after her," Arthur said.
"Standing there staring won't get you anywhere. If you're too slow, soone else might snatch her up first."
Arthur suddenly rembered—this was the year Cho would get together with Cedric Diggory.
Whether Cedric pursued her first or Cho made the move, Arthur couldn't quite recall.
Either way, after Cedric's death in the Triwizard Tournant, Cho would later beco Harry's girlfriend.
But that had nothing to do with Arthur.
Right now, he was purely encouraging Harry to make a move.
He was curious—
Between Harry and Cedric, who would win Cho's heart first?
Harry actually felt tempted by Arthur's words.
But before he could act, a sharp pain flared across his scar, snapping him back to reality.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Arthur asked.
"It's nothing," Harry said, rubbing his forehead.
"I just don't know why my scar's been hurting on and off lately. Do you know why?"
"When Voldemort left that scar on your forehead, you reflected his Killing Curse," Arthur explained.
"Sothing else probably happened at that mont—sothing that created a connection between you and him."
"For example," Arthur continued, "when he does sothing terrible, or when he grows stronger, your scar reacts."
There was, of course, another possibility.
The fragnt of Voldemort's soul inside Harry might be sensing Voldemort's growing power—and desperately trying to return to its original body.
Harry's scar was essentially a doorway.
Whenever that fragnt tried to break through it, pain followed.
Unlike Voldemort's other Horcruxes, this soul fragnt had ford accidentally.
It was incomplete—and unstable.
That was why it longed so desperately to reunite with the main soul.
But Arthur didn't tell Harry any of that.
Learning that the soul of his greatest enemy lived inside his own body—
That would be far too much for Harry to bear right now.
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