Barty Crouch Sr. left—and then came back.
He clearly hadn't expected John to actually dare do this.
Five pure-blood families, erased just like that.
"Do you have any regard for the Ministry at all?!"
This was the first time Barty had ever truly lost his temper in front of John.
Everyone had been driven out. In the empty manor, he was like an enraged lion, his palm slamming down on the table again and again.
John leaned back in his chair, listening quietly as Barty vented his fury, ranting about how the Ministry had descended into chaos.
He told John everything that was happening inside.
Amelia Bones was demanding a full investigation. Aurors had been dispatched overnight, running from one family to another.
An incident this severe had already plunged people into panic.
One wrong step, and Barty himself could be dragged down by Amelia.
That was something Barty could not tolerate.
Even though he had always cooperated with John, this time, John's actions had crossed the line of what he could accept.
Only after Barty had roared himself hoarse did John finally speak, unhurried and calm.
"Barty, I'm glad that even in a situation like this, you're still running around for the sake of a friend."
His words made Barty sit down in silence.
"Yes, they're dead," John said evenly, his fingers rubbing the emerald gemstone. "But where's the evidence?"
"Anyone can guess who did it," Barty stared at John, his voice cold. "Old Jack was attacked, and you moved immediately afterward."
"No, Barty. You're wrong." John wasn't wearing a mask, so Barty could clearly see the curve of his smile. "Even without Old Jack's incident, I would have acted."
"You…" Barty's eyes widened. "Do you even know what you're saying?"
A black owl flew in through the window and perched on the railing.
John replied noncommittally, "No Aurors have come. That means you suppressed it, didn't you?"
Barty didn't answer. He only frowned deeper. "Answer my question, John Wick!"
"All right, since you want to know." John shrugged, a wicked smile appearing on his face. "I did it for you, Barty."
"For me? Nonsense!" Barty snorted coldly.
John didn't get angry, saying lightly, "Carrow. Rowl. Selwyn. Jeffery. Monroe."
One by one, the names of the families wiped out in this attack were spoken. Barty's brow never relaxed.
"What do you think Voldemort needs most right now?"
Without waiting for Barty to answer, John continued, "People? No. What he needs is chaos. Only enough chaos will let him draw more people to his side."
"These five families were either secretly aligned with Voldemort or already leaning toward him. Their existence itself was a destabilizing factor."
"So you just killed them?" Barty said.
"No, no, no." John wagged a finger, smiling faintly. "I'm not that cruel."
"They want society to fall into chaos—so what do you think is the best way to do that?"
Barty wasn't a fool. Hearing this, he began to think.
After a moment, he gave his answer.
"The Ministry."
"Bingo." John snapped his fingers, smiling. "The werewolf population is moving toward the werewolf community. It's growing larger by the day."
"Old Jack was a Ministry councillor, and more importantly, the representative and leader of the werewolves. His death would ignite the discrimination war that's been hidden beneath the veneer of peace."
"With such a massive werewolf population, if unrest breaks out, the result would force the Ministry to make a decision to...."
John didn't finish the sentence. Cold sweat seeped from Barty's forehead as he said in disbelief, "Replace the Minister of Magic?"
"Yes. Exactly," John said. "A scapegoat—and a member of a pure-blood family."
"The werewolves' hatred would shift onto you, and the phase of renewed competition would plunge everything into chaos."
"Werewolves dissatisfied with magical society are easily drawn to the Dark side."
With every sentence John spoke, Barty felt another jolt of alarm.
"These five families were already on my list for reckoning," John said with an unhurried smile. "At the last gathering, they refused to bow their heads."
"And their deaths won't stir dissatisfaction among the other families."
He tapped the table casually. Several thick volumes flew down from the bookshelf.
They opened themselves in front of Barty.
"The Flint family has long had potion disputes with the Monroes. Members of the Prewett family were killed by the Carrows."
"The Selwyns seized large quantities of supplies from the Longbottom family."
"The Rowls have political hostilities with the Greengrasses, and they once suppressed Arthur Weasley within the Ministry."
"And the Jefferys have even drawn wands against the Shacklebolts before."
One ledger after another. One set of records after another.
All laid out before Barty. What John had eliminated weren't five respectable families, but five universally despised parasites.
"I originally planned to pressure them financially, let them collapse slowly," John said.
He reached out and casually stroked the head of the black, long-eared owl, Riddle. "But now…"
"Heh~ It was they who put the knife into my hand."
Barty silently flipped through the parchments one by one, growing more alarmed the further he read.
Under the schemes of these families, toppling a Minister of Magic suddenly seemed like an easy thing to do.
An open spear was easy to dodge; a hidden arrow was not.
They were venomous snakes lurking in the gutter, waiting to sink their fangs into Barty at any moment.
Once Barty had finished reading, John stood and moved behind him.
Both hands rested on Barty's shoulders as John said in a low voice, "Barty, we're friends—on the same boat. Just as you refused Auror protection and came here alone, I've made my response."
"Five families with ulterior motives, in exchange for an unshakable position."
"No." Barty lifted his head and corrected him. "A group of Death Eaters purged by Voldemort."
"Heh," A smile appeared on John's face. Barty had been convinced.
No one felt goodwill toward those who wanted to drag them down from power.
John had done something extremely clever—above every one of those families' estates, the Dark Mark had been cast.
Even though many people knew Voldemort was unlikely to act at this moment, it was enough that the public believed it.
Barty's expression turned cold. John had made him see that his position was not as secure as he had thought.
But then...
Was John truly someone he could trust completely?
Barty looked at John deeply and asked, "What do you want?"
"We're friends, Barty," John said with a bright smile.
But Barty knew all too well that friends were often the greatest creditors of all.
He left Silverhand Manor.
Before going, he turned back for one last look.
The figure on the balcony was indistinct, but the emerald ring gleamed with striking clarity.
The combined power of the pure-blood families was formidable—but in the face of power that decided life and death, it was nothing more than a ridiculous farce.
…
The Tragedy of Five Families—The Truth Turns Out to Be….....
Werewolf Equality Back on the Agenda, Minister Crouch Delivers Speech
Darkness Has Never Left Us—It Only Lurks in the Shadows
Protecting Christmas: Lockhart Personally Arrives
Public opinion had always belonged in the hands of the strong.
The Ministry of Magic weathered a massive upheaval, yet when it came to official mention, it was reduced to a single brief line.
Voldemort conveniently took the blame, and the Ministry tightened its defenses.
The deaths of the five families were brushed aside just like that.
As for the unspoken rules among pure-blood families?
When a whale falls, all things are nourished.
John didn't touch the assets of those five families. They were devoured by other families instead.
The families that profited would only symbolically send a Howler to the Ministry.
Three families gained the most: Malfoy, Greengrass, and Longbottom.
The Longbottoms took over the materials market, the Greengrasses expanded into the potion trade, and the Malfoys moved into Quidditch ventures.
After absorbing those industries, the strength of the three families surged, making them the wealthiest among the Sacred Twenty-Eight.
Sometimes, when a windfall falls from the sky, even trying to dodge it just gets it shoved into your arms.
Lucius happily opened two bottles of top-grade wine from the Silverhand cellar.
The Greengrass family bought Astoria a brand-new Firebolt.
The Longbottoms were said to have commissioned exceptionally flexible clothing for Neville.
As for the other families that hadn't gotten a share and wanted to make trouble—unfortunately for them, they'd already seen what happened to the chickens used to scare the monkeys.
They all knew exactly who those families had died because of.
John held meetings with several families. The Goyle and Crabbe families stated that they had absolutely no involvement.
John believed them—whether it was genetics or something else, people from those two families all had that kind of blunt, straightforward look to them.
Just like elderly versions of Goyle and Crabbe.
What had been the most troublesome issue for Barty was resolved by John just like that.
As long as there was enough profit involved, those so-called agreements were nothing more than empty words.
If a binding Unbreakable Vow were added on top, perhaps they would finally behave and keep their promises.
________
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