"...Aren't there a few too many people who know about this leverage?"
Avada spent quite a while organizing his words before finally squeezing out that sentence.
"The headmasters of all three schools know. The people from Leach University all know. Even quite a few of the Death Eaters who participated in the plan to rescue Voldemort know... One more Bagman wouldn't make much difference, would it? Can this really be kept hidden?"
"To be honest, it really can."
Dumbledore nodded emotionally.
"Barty Crouch Jr.'s existence was uncovered by Pettigrew. Even among the pure-blood families, very few people know about it. I imagine only the most core members are qualified to know that they still had such a companion hidden away... The others, at most, can only know that someone impersonated Ludo Bagman, but not who exactly it was."
"But you are not wrong. There are indeed a few too many people who know of Crouch's weakness. However, this is mainly a transaction between him and Leach University. Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, and I each merely took half a step back, symbolically received some benefits, and gave the university that represents the future a favor."
He continued, "After all, Crouch is still an old and prestigious official, and is now the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. If he cooperates, then it will undoubtedly be an enormous help in legalizing the university in Britain. As for how Barty Jr. should be dealt with after the dust settles... that is his own affair."
"Then what do you think he will do, Professor?"
Avada asked curiously.
Surely Barty Jr. could not stay by Crouch's side for the rest of his life? And he was much younger than his father. Even if he just waited, he could outlive Crouch until his natural death...
"Who knows? He will probably continue maintaining the status quo."
Dumbledore shook his head.
"He is his biological son, after all. If Crouch truly had no affection for him whatsoever, he would not have allowed his wife to switch him out of Azkaban, nor kept watch over him for more than ten years... All right, let us leave Mr. Crouch's matter there for now and continue the previous topic."
"Where did we get to just now... Ah, yes. Pettigrew took the lead and implemented the Triwizard Tournament plan together with the pure-blood faction."
As Dumbledore spoke, a familiar smile appeared on his face again.
"Then, after learning of this matter, the response I made was also very simple. Since they had taken the initiative to set the location at Durmstrang, then couldn't I simply go find Karkaroff and seek his cooperation? That was what I thought at first."
"At first?"
Avada froze for a moment, then quickly realized something.
"Did some other change happen afterward? But Karkaroff does indeed seem to be on your side... Wait, could he be one of Leach University's people?!"
"Very quick reaction."
Dumbledore cheerfully approved of Avada's guess.
"It was only when I found Karkaroff that I discovered I was one step too late. However, at that time, I still did not know of Leach University's existence. I simply thought Karkaroff was gathering manpower and arranging something on his own. But I was not surprised then, because I knew Karkaroff was absolutely the person who least wanted Voldemort to return. As the headmaster of Durmstrang and a veteran Death Eater, he also had his own channels of information, enough for him to learn a portion of what was happening in Britain..."
"So? What did he do?"
"He took the initiative to contact the pure-blood faction in Britain and expressed his willingness to provide help."
Dumbledore said this with some amusement.
"And in order to make his involvement appear natural and credible, he deliberately released some information within the school, saying that his position as headmaster had been shaken in recent years and was no longer very stable, so he also needed external assistance... Those pure-bloods never expected that this man, who had betrayed them once before, now shared common interests with them again. And so, out of nowhere, I gained an important source of intelligence besides Pettigrew. The secret alliance formed by the stubborn pure-blood faction had also been two-thirds infiltrated by me..."
"Only two-thirds?!"
Avada was somewhat shocked.
The proposer and core executor of the plan were already all Dumbledore's people. How much more infiltrated could it possibly get?
"Those pure-blood families are not fools, after all."
Dumbledore explained leisurely.
"Pettigrew's status among them had never been high to begin with, and no one knew what he had experienced during the thirteen years he disappeared. As for Karkaroff, he had betrayed them once before... No matter how great the contributions they made after returning this time, they still could not receive absolute trust. Moreover, the pure-blood faction itself was not doing nothing. For example, the fact that Harry was actually a Horcrux was something they had actively investigated themselves. At that time, they still had quite a few secrets."
"So, the remaining one-third..."
While sorting through the clues, Avada followed Dumbledore's words and thought onward.
"That was what you gained from your trip to see Grindelwald?"
"That's right."
Dumbledore smiled.
"It was also at that time that I formally learned the name 'Leach University,' and learned that my old friend, who often does unexpected things, had given me yet another surprise that caught me completely off guard..."
"Under his instruction, Leach University's board member, Mr. Johnson Shafiq, who was also a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, sought out the core members of the stubborn faction and introduced them to a powerful organization 'secretly established by Grindelwald, whose influence had already spread throughout every aspect of Britain.' He also expressed willingness to cooperate with their plan and directly bring about Albus Dumbledore's complete defeat... And just like that, the pure-blood faction, thinking everything had fallen perfectly into place, reached cooperation with Grindelwald. Grindelwald then conveniently learned of their complete plan."
"And that was what I told you at the beginning of this school year—the three purposes behind the pure-blood families' restarting of the Triwizard Tournament."
"First, to rescue Barty Jr. and have him replace Bagman as a judge, then work with Karkaroff to tamper with the competition. That was what I told you in the feather—tampering with the ghost ship and manipulating the scores so that the champions would board the ship at the same time, forcing me to expend energy rescuing them..."
"Second, to secretly cooperate with Grindelwald and provide him with resources to restore his strength, making him the main force in the battle against me. In their conception, by that point, I would already have been exhausted from unraveling the magic of the ghost ship, and the already powerful Grindelwald would be fully capable of defeating me. That way, they would not only eliminate their greatest stumbling block, but also directly obtain Voldemort's main soul from me, achieving all their objectives in one breath."
"And the third purpose was insurance against accidents: to have Pettigrew, disguised as Moody, steal Harry away. In that case, even if they failed this time, Voldemort would forever be impossible to completely kill, becoming a hidden danger that could not be eliminated."
"Then you learned all of the above from Grindelwald, and cooperated with Pettigrew and Karkaroff to turn the tables, luring them all out?"
"That's right—but one step in the middle was missing."
Dumbledore suddenly gave a bitter smile.
"After we met, Grindelwald did not directly pour out all of this information. Instead, he used it as a bargaining chip and demanded that I reach cooperation with Leach University."
(End of Chapter)