Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 116 Little Sprite Sparkle

"Dobby?"

"gentlemen!"

Upon seeing Harry, Dobby's two big, round green eyes practically popped out of their sockets with joy.

"What are you doing at school? Don't tell me the Malfoys are up to something behind my back."

“No, sir. Dobby brought Shiny here to see you and is also looking for a job for her.”

"Sparkle?"

Harry took a second to process the memory before recalling the house-elf that originally belonged to the Claude family.

"Oh, Sparkle, where is she now?"

Hearing Harry ask this, Dobby patted his chest proudly and replied:

"Dobby introduced Shiny to Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Dumbledore allowed her to help in the kitchen. Would you like to meet her, sir?"

Harry nodded to Dobby and said:

"Okay, let's go. I have some questions I want to ask her."

......

Led by Dobby, Harry and his friends successfully navigated the magical mechanism depicting a pear in the painting and entered the interior of Hogwarts' kitchens. Unlike the last time Moran infiltrated the area, all one hundred-plus house-elves were busily preparing food for a lively Christmas ball.

"Blink! Over here! Mr. Harry Potter has come to see you!"

Dobby's voice reached Sparkle's ears over several stoves, and it wasn't until she turned around that Harry finally recognized her among the many elves wearing Hogwarts tea towels.

Hello, Sparkle.

When she heard that Harry greeted her but Brilliant didn't respond, her lips trembled, and then she burst into tears.

"Waaah...waaah..."

Looking at Sparkle, whose brown eyes were constantly brimming with tears, Harry asked Dobby, somewhat puzzled:

"Um, Dobby, what's wrong with her?"

"Oh sir, you don't need to worry about it."

Dobby still looked delighted.

“Sparkle has been like this often ever since she left her original owner, the Crouch family. I think it's probably because she doesn't yet understand how wonderful it is to be able to choose her own job. Dobby also often felt uneasy when she first left the Malfoys, but she gradually got better after Mr. Harry Potter gave her a job and a position. Sparkle should get better too!”

A few of the house-elves in the kitchen had been looking up at Harry and his friends with interest, but when Dobby said that, they all looked away. They looked as if Dobby had said something incredibly rude, embarrassing, and disgusting.

Harry sighed, noticing the change in atmosphere in the kitchen. He patted Dobby's head, then turned his gaze back to Sparkle.

"Are you alright, Shining? I have some questions for you."

Upon hearing Harry's voice, Sparkle struggled to lift her head. She had been sobbing uncontrollably until now, and looked like a flattened tomato, with snot and tears streaming from her eyes and nose like tomato juice.

"So... um... Mr. Harry Potter... um... what would you like to know?"

Seeing that Brilliant had finally developed some communication skills, Harry crouched down and whispered:

“Now that you are no longer the elf serving the Crouch family, I would like to ask you some questions about Mr. Crouch and his late son, Barty Crouch Jr.”

"Ah! No! Sir! Absolutely not!"

"Sparkle!" she cried out, her big eyes, which had just stopped crying, instantly filled with tears again.

"House-elves must keep their masters' secrets! Keep them silent! Mr. Harry Potter, you must understand that we are sworn to uphold our masters' honor to the death, and will never reveal a single secret or speak ill of our masters!"

“But Crouch already fired you, didn’t he? He’s no longer your master. Look, Dobby can talk to me normally about the Malfoys now…”

"Sparkle hasn't fallen to that level yet!"

The little elf, Sparkle, suddenly interrupted Harry, squealing at him as she flattened her large ears with both hands:

"Sparkle is ashamed of his freedom! Sparkle is ashamed of failing to complete the task assigned by Mr. Crouch! Mr. Crouch did the right thing by firing the useless, wicked Sparkle! Sparkle deserves to be punished!"

Seeing that Harry was speechless after being "roasted" by Gilgamesh, Dobby quickly and quietly tugged at Harry's sleeve.

“Shanshan is still a little unsettled, sir.”

He explained in a high-pitched voice:

“Sparkle has just left her former master’s house. She can’t accept the fact that she has severed ties with Mr. Crouch in a short time, even though Professor Dumbledore once came to comfort her.”

"Professor Dumbledore? He's come to see Gilgamesh too?"

“Oh yes, sir. Professor Dumbledore treats all elves equally, and he doesn’t even ask us to uphold his reputation. He also said before that if we wish, we can call him… cough cough! Call him a big, stupid fool, sir.”

"Hahaha."

Harry, caught up in his headmaster's humor, couldn't help but laugh, which startled Dobby, who quickly clarified:

“But sir! sir! Dobby never intended to do that! Dobby is very fond of Professor Dumbledore, and even though Dobby isn’t getting paid by him right now, Dobby is willing to keep his secret and uphold his honor!”

"This is betrayal! You're a wicked elf! Dobby!"

Suddenly, Shan Shan said this, tears streaming down her cheeks, as if she had suffered some great injustice.

“Your master, whom you are destined to serve for all your life, is the Malfoy family. How can you so readily pledge allegiance to someone else? Aren’t you worried about your master’s livelihood? Oh, my poor Mr. Crouch, what will you do without Brilliant’s help? What a disgrace! What a disgrace… I’m sorry to my mother and my grandmother. I can never dedicate my life to the Crouch family like they did!”

"Actually, you don't need to worry so much, Sparkle."

Ha comforted him, using the most sincere tone possible:

"So many wizarding families without house-elves have been doing just fine, haven't they? Even without your care, Mr. Crouch can still live a normal life. And to be honest, when he was a judge at the Triwizard Tournament the other day, he seemed to be in even more good spirits than at the Quidditch World Cup."

"Have you met Mr. Crouch?"

Flashy wiped away her tears with a Hogwarts tea towel and asked.

"Yes, he and Mr. Bagman are both here at Hogwarts as referees. Didn't you know that?"

“Mr. Bagman is here too? That stupid and wicked wizard, um... he... no! Sparkle can’t tell anyone, Sparkle can’t reveal the secret her master told her to anyone else.”

Upon hearing this, Harry and Moran almost simultaneously conceived the idea of ​​using Legilimency on Brilliant. The two exchanged a few words in their minds and came up with a brilliant idea.

"How about this, Sparkle."

Harry said casually:

“I am now one of the Triwizard Tournament’s champions, and with that title, I think I can take you to meet Mr. Crouch.”

"Really? Mr. Harry Potter! You are simply..."

"Stop, stop, stop..."

Harry interrupted:

"Don't get too excited yet. When I say we're going to see him, I really mean it. To avoid embarrassing Headmaster Dumbledore, I absolutely cannot let Mr. Crouch know you're at Hogwarts. So if you're willing to let me seal your mouth with the Silent Charm and then obediently hide under the Invisibility Cloak, I'll take you to see Mr. Crouch."

The servility ingrained deep within her soul made Sparkle abandon all thought; she didn't even hear what conditions Harry had proposed before hastily nodding in agreement.

The plan went smoothly. Brilliant, who had obediently concealed himself in the Invisibility Cloak, had barely stepped out of the kitchen when Harry used the Imperius Curse to subdue him. However, to Harry's surprise, a dozen minutes later, when Brilliant returned to the kitchen with false memories, he wandered through Hogwarts Castle and fell into deep thought.

Barty Crouch Jr. is not dead!

All along, Barty Crouch, with the help of Blink Dagger, has been using the Invisibility Cloak and the Imperius Curse to control and protect his son, who should have been imprisoned in Azkaban. Even worse, on the night of the Quidditch World Cup final a few months ago, Barty Jr. disappeared.

This is even more explosive and important news than Sirius Black's prison break last year. Even if the International Department of Magical Exchange and Cooperation doesn't have the same responsibility as the Department of Magical Execution to maintain the safety of the magical world, how can Barty Crouch, who has already committed a heinous crime, act as if it's none of his business and participate in the Triwizard Tournament?

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Upon learning the truth, Harry couldn't help but curse inwardly.

From the moment he learned about his origins until now, what he hates more than powerful enemies and wicked dark wizards are traitors and fools.

The implications of a Death Eater who had lived for over a decade escaping the night the Dark Mark appeared were clear even to first-year wizards at Hogwarts. To allow such a fanatical Death Eater to go unpunished—had that damned Barty Crouch already betrayed them and joined Voldemort's side?

Thinking about this, Harry became so anxious that his skin started to sting.

"How about we capture Barty Crouch directly and then deliver him to Professor Dumbledore to explain the situation?"

“It might alert them. If Barty Crouch is arrested, the Ministry of Magic will definitely make a big deal out of it, which will make the Death Eaters who were hiding in the shadows even more careful.”

"What can we do then? Are we just supposed to let Voldemort and his minions do as they please?"

Mo Ran, whose understanding was refreshed by the images in his memory, remained silent for a moment. He tried hard to recall the plot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", but in the end, he could only recall the scene of Barty Crouch's inexplicable murder.

"Okay, how about this?"

Mo Ran sighed and said:

"To be honest, I don't think Barty Crouch would betray us. He publicly led the fight against Voldemort during the most difficult times; he's not the kind of spineless coward who would turn against us. If I'm not mistaken, everything he did was because he couldn't overcome the barrier of family ties..."

"We can't just let it go like this."

"Of course not. We at least need to make sure you can go to the ball in peace, right? While we still have time, let's go find him and clear everything up. Our magic is far superior to his now. Even if he doesn't cooperate, we can use force to make him give in."

Having received a clear answer from Moran, Harry wasted no more time. He simply responded with a "yes" in his mind and immediately pulled out the shop map to find Barty Crouch's location.

Just ten minutes later, the room near the Astronomy Tower, which Hogwarts had provided to the Ministry of Magic officials, was kicked open with a bang.

"Expelliarmus!" (Expelliarmus)

"Immobulus!" (Everyone freezes)

"Incarcerous!" (Immediately imprison them)

Three spells shot out with lightning speed from Harry's wand and his empty left palm, binding Barty Crouch, who was reviewing documents, into a tight knot.