0795 HARRY’S NARRATION

Harry began to speak with a trembling voice even though he still couldn't fully understand or comprehend everything that had happened during those nightmarish hours. The person who had killed Barty Crouch Jr. was undoubtedly Professor Watson but the mystery that overwhelmed Harry's exhausted mind was how and when he had managed to transform himself into Gabrielle.

The cryptic instructions Watson had given after their return to the Black Lake seemed to suggest that Professor Watson knew far more about the unfolding conspiracy than he had initially revealed.

The burning question that consumed Harry's thoughts was: what about the Professor Dumbledore? How much did the headmaster truly know?

So many anxious people were waiting for answers. Harry didn't have the luxury of time to think deeply and analytically about all the implications and connections, and besides, since Hermione was still alive, she would undoubtedly analyze every detail for him.

"—When I regained consciousness, we found ourselves standing in the middle of a fog-shrouded graveyard. I'd never been to that cursed place before in my life, but it was where Voldemort's father was buried—he said so himself—"

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter!"

Harry had barely begun his retelling when he was abruptly interrupted by a sharp, authoritative voice.

It was Madam Bones, her expression was now grave and intensely focused as she leaned forward with the rigorous precision and attention of a seasoned court examiner cross-examining a potentially unreliable witness in a case of utmost importance.

"How exactly did you manage to get to this mysterious graveyard location, Mr. Potter?" She said with intensity. "According to all available information and the rules of the tournament, you should have been safely at the bottom of the lake, shouldn't you?

All of you should have been completely submerged at the lake bottom, participating in the designated second task. As far as I know, Apparition is completely impossible within the boundaries of Hogwarts, and there's certainly no Floo Network connection at the lake bottom that would allow for such transportation."

Fudge rarely showed such obvious pleased approval toward the usually independent Madam Bones—any behavior or line of questioning that contradicted or cast doubt upon Harry Potter's story earned his enthusiastic appreciation.

"There was a large, ancient stone platform hidden beneath the murky waters, ma'am—" Hermione interjected taking several deep, shuddering breaths as she struggled to control her emotions and speak clearly about the traumatic experience.

She pressed her lips together tightly, gathering her courage before continuing in a voice that trembled with remembered fear:

"It seemed like some kind of Portkey. I... I was searching for Harry and Ron at the lake bottom. When I finally found them, I saw they were both tied securely to a massive stone pillar behind one of the mermaid statue's tails. The moment I touched them, trying to untie the ropes that bound them, we were all transported instantly to that horrible place."

"Absolutely preposterous and completely impossible!" Fudge shouted with explosive anger, his face flushing deep red. "All Portkeys, without exception, must be officially authorized and registered by the Ministry of Magic!"

"This was clearly the handiwork of Cliodna, Cornelius—" Dumbledore interjected with calm authority. "If you're willing to have your Aurors bring her back here for questioning, we could easily get to the bottom of this mystery and—"

"Absolutely not! Enough of this nonsense!" Fudge interrupted with harsh decisiveness. "I cannot and will not allow such an extremely dangerous individual to appear anywhere outside Azkaban prison—the general public would panic!"

Fudge had somehow managed to find what was perhaps the most nearly absurd excuse imaginable for avoiding the truth.

"Please continue, Harry—" Sirius urged with concern and growing urgency.

So, Harry continued his detailed narrative.

He mentioned how when they had first appeared in that graveyard, they had initially speculated about their bizarre situation—foolishly thinking it might be some kind of tournament challenge designed to test their problem-solving abilities and courage under pressure.

He spoke of their heated argument with the cowardly Karkaroff, whose true nature had been revealed under stress, and how they had finally made the decision to explore the mysterious graveyard despite their growing unease and the ominous atmosphere.

Then, emerging from the thick, unnatural mist, a tall, haggard man had appeared carrying a small, hideously ugly creature that resembled a deformed child—it was Barty Crouch Jr., who obeyed the twisted Creature's every command and killed Gabrielle with Killing Curse.

Upon hearing this horrific revelation, Fleur immediately cried out in anguish and terror. Her face went deathly pale and her entire body began to tremble uncontrollably with shock and fear.

She cupped her beloved younger sister's face with shaking hands, staring desperately into Gabrielle's bright blue eyes as if searching for some sign that the terrible story wasn't true, while Madame Maxime rushed speed to Gabrielle's bedside and began examining the girl carefully.

"Complete and utter nonsense!" Fudge shouted with increasing desperation. "Hit by the Killing Curse? I'm absolutely certain you were experiencing severe hallucinations brought on by trauma and stress—this little girl is clearly still alive and breathing!"

"Oh, Minister, perhaps young Mr. Potter thinks—" the pink-clad Dolores Umbridge finally found her perfect chance to interject with malicious glee, letting out her distinctive silvery laugh that sounded like breaking glass and sent chills down the spines of all who heard it.

"—that everyone can somehow be 'The Boy Who Lived' and survive the unsurvivable! How utterly presumptuous and delusional!"

"I'm not lying about what we saw!" Harry shouted with passionate conviction. "That was definitely the Killing Curse—we all saw it with our own eye!"

Both Hermione and Ron immediately voiced their strong support with overlapping confirmations, and even Gabrielle herself nodded grimly which absolutely terrified both Fleur and the Madame Maxime beyond measure, leaving even the experienced Madam Pomfrey looking as if she questioned the very nature of reality itself.

"Remove the tournament competition uniform, Harry—" Bryan said calmly.

Upon hearing this unexpected instruction, Harry immediately began removing his specially designed clothes without question or hesitation, stripping off the garments and handing them over to Professor Watson with obvious respect and complete trust.

The memory of how these very clothes had somehow saved both Hermione and Ron from certain death filled him with deep gratitude and faith in the professor's wisdom and foresight.

Bryan's wand emitted a brilliant silver light that illuminated the fabric with magical glow, and the tournament garment was immediately and precisely cut open along its seams with precision.

Bryan pulled apart the double-layered fabric from the magical opening he had created, and all the gathered people leaned forward to see what was revealed between the two layers of woven material—densely packed white objects that looked like small, oval seeds but radiated a faint magical aura.

"Billywig eggs—"Snape leaned over to examine the contents more closely, his eyes immediately identifying the magical components and informed everyone.

Bryan nodded at Snape's accurate identification before explaining.

"During the tournament planning phase, I was constantly thinking about how to protect the champions' safety and wellbeing during the dangerous and intensely challenging competitions that lay ahead. Finally, after much research and experimentation, I came up with a solution—designing and creating these special competition uniforms with multiple layers of protection."

He held up the cut fabric so everyone could see.

"This specialized uniform could provide substantial impact protection for the champions during physical challenges, offer complete one-time immunity against fatal curse strikes, and had several other designed functions intended to help champions escape from life-threatening dangerous situations.

I never expected or hoped that it would prove so vitally useful in circumstances like these."

Looking at Fleur's overwhelmed expression of gratitude and relief, it was clear that if there weren't so many people present as witnesses to maintain propriety, she would have rushed forward without hesitation to kiss Bryan in passionate gratitude.

Ron and Hermione exchanged glances filled with understanding and relief—both now clearly remembered the terrifying sensation of being struck by the Killing Curse and now they finally understood exactly how they had managed to survive.

"Thank you so very much, Bryan!" Madame Maxime said with complete sincerity. "Without your absolutely ingenious idea and incredible foresight... I honestly don't know how I would have explained such a tragedy to the child's parents back in France.

But why didn't you mention this life-saving feature beforehand? Fleur kept complaining constantly that the clothes were ugly, never knowing they were actually saving her life!"

"If I had revealed this crucial information in advance to any of the champions," Bryan explained with a knowing smile, "they would have felt they had something reliable to depend upon as a safety net, and then they wouldn't have given their absolute best effort in facing the competition's challenges."

Fudge's already face grew increasingly gloomy and dark as this explanation demolished yet another of his hoped-for arguments against the credibility of Harry's narration—he found himself with absolutely nothing to say in response to such logical and well-reasoned planning.

Harry continued his account, though he deliberately chose not to dwell on his scar's excruciating pain upon seeing the disgusting dwarf like Voldemort.

Instead, he went straight to describing how the cowardly Karkaroff had wanted to completely abandon them and flee from danger, how Hermione had fought desperately and courageously with the vicious Barty Crouch Junior to create a crucial escape opportunity for him and Ron, risking her own life without hesitation, and how Karkaroff had ultimately tried to offer both him and Ron to Voldemort to save his own life.

Krum felt utterly and completely ashamed of his headmaster's cowardly behavior, wanting nothing more than to cover his face with his hands and flee from the embarrassment and disgrace, though fortunately for his emotional state, everyone present was focused intently on Harry's narrative and didn't pay much attention to him.

Fudge kept wanting desperately to interrupt the flow of testimony—he wanted to remind everyone that Barty Crouch Jr. was definitively dead, had been deceased and buried for well over a decade according to official Ministry records but on the other hand, some part of his curiosity also wanted to hear more of this detailed story.

When Harry mentioned that Voldemort himself had personally cast the Killing Curse at both Ron and Hermione, causing them to collapse instantly, Professor McGonagall made a loud, strange sound that was part shocked exclamation and part heartbroken sob.

Sirius clenched his fists, his grey eyes twitching with barely controlled rage while Remus no longer appeared as mild-mannered and gentle as usual—his typically calm expression had taken on a distinctly colder edge.

Everything Harry had experienced in that graveyard seemed like a terrible nightmare—he couldn't remember many of the smaller details with perfect clarity, but he remembered Voldemort's horrific resurrection magic with vivid detail that would probably haunt his dreams for years to come:

He had used Barty's flesh and blood, his own father's ancient bone dust collected from the grave, and Harry's own blood, forcibly taken during the ritual, combining these elements in a cauldron of dark magic.

He told everyone present about the moment when Voldemort emerged triumphantly from that great, bubbling cauldron—most people present felt an instinctive chill run down their spines, and some even began to shiver.

Such abominably evil magic and twisted ritual... it was completely unheard of.

During Voldemort's most active and terrifying period of power, his main area of destructive activity had still been primarily contained within the borders of Britain, affecting mainly their own magical community.

But listening with horror to Harry's narrative, even the foreign visitors—Madame Maxime, Fleur, and Viktor Krum all tensed up, gaining for the first time a direct sense of exactly how utterly terrifying this infamous Dark Lord could be.

"Complete fabrication and absolute lies!" Fudge finally couldn't contain his rising panic and desperation any longer, his political survival instincts overriding any concern for truth or public safety.

He knew that if he continued to allow Harry Potter to "talk nonsense" and spread these terrifying stories, then Voldemort's return would become an established, undeniable fact.

Fudge shouted with increasing hysteria.

"How utterly ridiculous and completely absurd! Many people know that Barty Crouch Jr. died many years ago—he died a prisoner in the terrible fortress of Azkaban, and the Dementors themselves buried his wasted body in the prison grounds...

Ugh, I... I've had quite enough of this charade. I don't want to listen to any more of these fabricated stories!"

"Cornelius—" Dumbledore showed absolutely no surprise at Fudge's predictable behavior and continued denial. "I implore you most earnestly to open your eyes and clearly see the undeniable facts that are right before you..."

"These are not facts, Dumbledore!" Fudge ranted with increasing volume and desperation. "I'm absolutely wasting my time listening to a few frightened, traumatized children make up fantasy stories... Oh, how completely ridiculous—Barty Crouch Jr. is still alive after all these years, what an absolutely absurd joke—"

"Though Barty may indeed be deceased, his loyal house-elf is still very much alive and, in our custody," Dumbledore pointed out with calm logic. "If you're willing to listen to testimony from all available sources, I can awaken the creature right now and have it tell us exactly what it witnessed during its years of service."

But Fudge continued his increasingly frantic ranting without pause. "I absolutely won't listen to a house-elf's nonsense and lies, Dumbledore! Barty Crouch Senior is definitely dead, killed in this incident... That's absolutely right, this is entirely Cliodna's doing.

She obviously resents the Ministry for imprisoning her in the Azkaban, so after orchestrating her own escape through unknown means, she decided to take revenge... She murdered Barty, and she clearly wanted to take revenge against Watson as well—"

Fudge cast a quick glance at Bryan.

"—She orchestrated absolutely everything that happened tonight as part of her revenge scheme. Yes, that's the complete truth of the matter, and I understand the situation perfectly now.

Thank you all for this enlightening discussion, but I need to return immediately to the Ministry—there are many urgent matters waiting for my immediate attention and decision... I'll contact you later, Dumbledore, to discuss this school's questionable educational methods!"

Then Fudge left, taking all the Ministry officials with him. Though Bones didn't want to leave, at Bryan's subtle indication, she departed as well.

"Your Minister is an absolute coward and a disgrace," Fleur said bluntly to Bryan in the oppressive atmosphere of the hospital wing, watching the Ministry party leave with contempt and disdain. "I think you taking that position would be absolutely the best possible outcome for Britain's magical community."

"That's precisely the source of his greatest fear and the reason for his desperate denial," Bryan smiled and replied with a shake of his head,

————————————

For More Chapters; patreon.com/FicFrenzy