"...So,"
Avada reacted quickly.
"So among the three plans of the pure-blood families you told me about at the beginning of last year, the person they wanted to take away was Harry?"
"That's right."
Dumbledore nodded approvingly.
"They sent someone disguised as Professor Moody to infiltrate Hogwarts, and planned to secretly take Harry out of Europe on the day the third task of the Triwizard Tournament began—in other words, while everyone at Hogwarts was distracted by that accident. Afterward, they would erase his memories, alter his appearance, and completely turn him into another person..."
"...That's ruthless."
Avada could not help shuddering.
If Barty Jr. in the original story had used this method too, and then erased his own memories of Harry afterward, then Voldemort probably truly would never have died from that point on...
"Fortunately, the person pretending to be Professor Moody was mine from the very beginning."
Dumbledore seemed about to smile, but then suddenly withdrew all expression, as though he had remembered something unpleasant.
"And that person was named Peter Pettigrew. You may have heard this name before. He was the one who brought me the surprise that laid the foundation for our victory... Of course, he also left me with my current confusion."
"Confusion? What happened?"
Avada asked curiously.
He had personally modified Peter's memories and personally witnessed him swear an oath with Dumbledore. With measures this strict, what accident could possibly happen?
"He's dead."
"..."
Dumbledore frowned slightly.
"I only received the news this afternoon. He died from the backlash of an Unbreakable Vow—and that vow was one he voluntarily made with me."
For some reason, Avada did not feel surprised by this at all.
"Let me first explain what he did."
Seeing Avada remain silent for a long time without expressing an opinion, Dumbledore sighed softly, then continued explaining.
"This person was believed to have died thirteen years ago, at the time when Voldemort had just fallen... The story during that period is rather complicated, and its authenticity still remains to be confirmed, so I will skip over it for now. You only need to know that this person actually joined the ranks of the Death Eaters thirteen years ago, and suddenly returned last year, bringing with him a large amount of intelligence concerning Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Among it was the location of that Horcrux cave. He also swore an oath with me, saying that he was willing to infiltrate the pure-blood faction once again, lure them into exposing their flaws, and help completely eliminate them."
"Then, not long after that, he contacted me again and told me he had thought of a bold plan..."
"This year's Triwizard Tournament?"
"That's right."
Dumbledore nodded.
"At that time, the pure-blood faction already knew that Harry was Voldemort's Horcrux and was planning how to secretly take him away. Pettigrew, who had just provided them with a large amount of hidden intelligence and thereby gained sufficient trust, believed that rather than letting them continue planning and create additional variables, it would be better to seize the initiative himself and directly formulate a known, controllable plan for them... That is the origin of this year's Triwizard Tournament."
To be honest, the truth Dumbledore revealed was somewhat beyond Avada's expectations.
This had not been part of the setup he had made for Pettigrew.
At the time, the task he had implanted into Pettigrew's subconscious had not been specific. It was only to find a way to make the temporarily silent pure-blood faction become active again, expose flaws to Dumbledore, and shorten the cycle of their destruction...
Unexpectedly, Pettigrew had actually figured it out by himself and brought up the Triwizard Tournament that had existed in the original story once again?
But thinking about it more carefully, this was also reasonable.
First of all, restoring the Tournament had always been something the three schools had been working toward, and in recent years, with society stabilizing, the proper timing had indeed arrived. Moreover, the pure-blood faction's goal this time happened to be the same as in the original story: taking Harry Potter away and resurrecting Voldemort.
It was just that in the original story, only Barty Jr. and Pettigrew had acted, while this time, the entire stubborn pure-blood faction was exerting its power. Naturally, the scale, investment, and objectives of the plan were on two entirely different levels.
This time, they were even planning to kill Dumbledore!
"Then, through their operations, the Triwizard Tournament was successfully restored this year. But its location was changed from the originally planned Hogwarts to Durmstrang, and unlike previous years, the age restriction was abolished."
Dumbledore said in a deep voice.
"Because they needed to lure the two most troublesome people—me, and you, who possess prophetic ability—out of Hogwarts together, so that neither of us could detect or obstruct their actions at the critical moment. My initial estimate was wrong. You were indeed part of their calculations."
"And the way they made you participate in the Tournament truly was by influencing Ludo Bagman. At that time, he had already been selected as a judge and had accumulated a large gambling debt. Then the pure-blood families approached him and made a suggestion. They suggested that the student who had defeated Voldemort twice join the Triwizard Tournament, and that he bet on that student winning. Those pure-blood families would cooperate with him to adjust the odds, and he himself could also manipulate matters from behind the scenes as a judge. In the end, everyone would make a huge profit together... You saw the result. Under his influence, you were successfully dragged into the game, while Bagman was kidnapped by Barty Jr. and became the disguise for his identity."
"...Then what about Mr. Crouch? How did he come over to be a judge?"
"His son had always been at his side, controlled by the Imperius Curse. That was something Pettigrew investigated during those ten years, and rescuing Barty Jr. to cooperate with their operation became a key part of their plan."
Dumbledore answered.
"So, under Karkaroff's invitation, Crouch agreed to come to Durmstrang as a judge and cooperated with them in formulating the script for the 'Bagman murder case.' Then, during the period when Bagman was 'dead,' Karkaroff secretly exchanged the real Bagman and Barty Jr.'s appearances and positions, making Bagman replace Barty Jr. and become controlled by Crouch's Imperius Curse..."
"...So,"
Only after thinking for a while did Avada react. With a strange expression, he asked,
"Bagman spent several months watching Crouch use the Imperius Curse on him?"
"That is correct."
Dumbledore also seemed a little caught between laughter and tears.
"His magical level was not enough to break free from Crouch's Imperius Curse for even a single second, and the orders Crouch's Imperius Curse gave were very simple: stay obediently in the room, do not speak, do not make noise, and do not act on your own... And so, poor Bagman was controlled by Crouch like this for more than three full months without Crouch noticing. It was only two months ago, when we told Crouch about the plan, that he realized his son had been switched out..."
"..."
Avada was somewhat unsure what expression would be appropriate to show right now.
"So, for the next two months, Crouch has been adjusting Bagman's memories the whole time, trying his best to make him naturally forget this experience. He certainly does not want more people to know about this leverage that could ruin his reputation."
(End of Chapter)