Hogwarts Summoning Guide

It was half an hour later when everyone returned to Hogwarts. Thanks to the Kelpie that Kiki had tamed, they were finally able to get everyone back. Except for the "lucky one" who was knocked unconscious by the Stunning Charm at the beginning, the other red-haired pirates became the Kelpie's appetizer. The "lucky one" was also taken into custody by Hagrid and was to be handed over to Dumbledore for disposal.

When Hagrid approached Dumbledore and quietly told him that the person had been rescued, Dumbledore's expression hardened, and he couldn't help but snort coldly. He had already realized that things were not so simple.

The Ministry of Magic's control over the scene was clearly too strict, almost to the point of a military blockade. Even Dumbledore was powerless, as he was tied up by Ministry officials. The Hogwarts professors were also asked to return to the castle early and could only "hint" at Hagrid to see if he could help. However, "Old Barty" clearly underestimated Hagrid. In his eyes, all non-pure-blood wizards were trash, let alone a half-giant (in fact, most wizards believed that half-giants were just as intellectually deficient as trolls).

It was late at night when Dumbledore walked into the drawing room with a gloomy face, but the Ministry of Magic officials, the heads of the various houses, Karkaroff and Maxim were all inside. Maxim seemed very angry and was arguing with "Old Barty." Then again, Maxim was French and didn't really need to give face to the British Ministry of Magic officials.

"This is kidnapping! Blatant kidnapping!" Maxim yelled, pointing at Old Barty's nose. She was nearly three meters tall, like an adult scolding a child. "If anything happens to Catherine, I'll take it to Wizengamot!"

Old Barty clearly looked down on Maxim in the same way he looked down on Hagrid, coldly stating, "Miss Catherine volunteered to participate in the competition as a rescue target; this was personally arranged by Mr. Bagman (Head of the Department of Physical Education and Sports at the Ministry of Magic)!"

Bagman, standing to the side with a serious expression, said to Maxim, "Please do not make baseless accusations against the Ministry of Magic. Every rescue target participating in the competition has adequate security and has obtained their authorization..."

"Where is he? I'm asking you where is he?!" Maxim panted like an angry cow, as if she would gore Bagman to death if his answer didn't satisfy her.

Dumbledore entered shortly after Scrimgeour, the Auror's Chief of Staff. His face was even more somber, and his eyes were filled with vigilance and suspicion as he looked at everyone.

"Quiet down, ladies and gentlemen!" Dumbledore said in a somewhat icy tone. "They've been rescued. They drifted to the North Shore and were found by the faculty who were feeding the Pegasus."

Maxim rushed to Dumbledore's side. Dumbledore nodded to her, pressed his hand down to indicate that she was alright, and told her to wait and see.

Old Barty and Bagman's expressions were both uncertain, but Old Barty spoke first: "Aha, congratulations! Although you didn't get good results, you've finally returned safely! Amazing!"

Scrimgeour remained silent, coldly watching his old superior (Old Barty had been transferred from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to the Department of International Magical Affairs), his arms crossed in front of him, his right hand tightly gripping his wand.

Snape closed the drawing room door without making a sound. Karkaroff frowned at his actions, took a step back, and tightened his grip on his cane.

"I'm afraid they're all seriously injured. Madam Pomfrey is currently treating them. Also discovered was an outsider, a wizard who's afraid of the dark! I'm afraid the Ministry of Magic has been seriously negligent in managing the scene!" Dumbledore said, staring intently at Barty the Elder.

Old Barty's eyebrows twitched slightly. "Is that so? Rufus (Scrimgeour's name), then you must investigate this thoroughly. This concerns the international reputation of the British Ministry of Magic!"

Scrimgeour said coldly, "The suspects have been apprehended. According to the evidence collected at the scene, at least six dark wizards disguised themselves as Ministry of Magic staff to infiltrate the competition, with the aim of setting a trap for Karin White. Five of them have already perished. Mr. Crouch, you personally directed all the personnel arrangements within the Ministry of Magic; I'm afraid you must provide an explanation for this!"

Old Barty looked utterly astonished, as if he were hearing this for the first time. Then, a surge of anger welled up in his eyes, and he said furiously, "Rufus! I want you to know what you're saying! You're actually accusing me of colluding with dark wizards! This is blatant slander and framing!"

"I know Mr. Barty Crouch is certainly a man who hates evil and is a banner, a symbol, in the fight against dark wizards! But the truth is always easily obscured by some fog, sometimes it is magic, sometimes it is potion... Please put your wand where we can all see it! Mr. Crouch!" Scrimgeour said sternly.

Barty was furious, but the look in Scrimgeour's eyes told him it was no joke. This old lion never gave anyone face; if he felt it necessary, Scrimgeour would cast a gruesome spell on him the moment before he opened his mouth to cast a spell, making him foam at the mouth and possibly lose control of his bladder and bowels. As the head of the Auror office, Scrimgeour's spellcasting was swift and ruthless, second to none in the Ministry of Magic.

"Perhaps I can be of some help," Snape, who had been silent all along, said in his less-than-likable tone. "In the last two matches, I discovered that my private potion-making supplies warehouse had been burgled. The missing materials included lacewings, sapwort, and even the skin of an African tree snake—all ingredients for Polyjuice Potion. I suspect someone is concocting Polyjuice Potion, disguising themselves as another person to infiltrate our ranks!"

The crowd gasped in surprise, glancing warily at those around them as they tried to guess who the imposter was. However, they quickly turned their attention to Old Barty, because only by becoming him could they manipulate the Ministry of Magic's personnel to the greatest extent possible and allow the dark wizard to infiltrate the ministry.

Snape continued, "But he probably doesn't know that after the first theft of ingredients, I added something new to the replacement ingredients. If someone uses my ingredients to prepare a compound potion, I can easily expose them!"

With that, Snape swiftly drew his wand, pointed it at the air, and said, "Disgrace!" (This was likely a spell Snape created himself).

As Snape's wand emitted a faint yellow glow, it immediately shone on everyone in the drawing room, causing everyone to tense up, with more than a dozen eyes all focused on Barty the Elder.

But Barty remained calm and composed, looking completely unfazed. Just as everyone was wondering whether Snape's spell had failed or their guess was wrong, a scream suddenly echoed through the spacious hall.

Not far from Old Barty, Mr. Bagman's expression suddenly changed drastically. The muscles in his face trembled violently, and to everyone's astonishment, his nose grew bigger and rounder until it became a pig's nose that was a full three inches long. Then, his ears also began to change, turning into two palm-sized pig ears, which, although upright, made him look exactly like Pigsy from Journey to the West.

"So it was you!" Scrimgeour, the head of the Auror's office, was the first to react. He quickly drew his wand and unleashed a "Stumpf!" (stuns the pig-faced Bagman) on him.

However, Bagman reacted just as quickly. Instead of taking out his wand, he pulled out three dark objects and threw them around. If Bai Lin were there, he would have recognized them immediately as three Muggle army grenades! As he threw the grenades, Bagman ducked down and fell to the ground.

Scrimgeour's Stunning Curse was narrowly dodged by Bagman, but the three grenades had already landed on the ground. Dumbledore immediately had a bad feeling. With a wave of his hand, several defensive spells enveloped the surroundings.

The three grenades exploded violently, but the explosion was contained by Dumbledore's defensive spells, which blocked the shrapnel and prevented many from flying out. Otherwise, the people closest to the grenades would probably have been killed on the spot.

Maxim, who was closest, still suffered cuts to his legs and arms from shrapnel, while Professor McGonagall, who was also closest, transformed into a cat at the critical moment and escaped unharmed.

Although the grenade didn't hurt anyone, it blasted three large holes in the floor, and then the entire floor began to collapse. "Bagman" leaped down the collapsing floor.

"Grab him, don't let him get away!" Scrimgeour shouted.

Those present were all powerful wizards: Dumbledore of Hogwarts and the four Headmasters—McGarden, Snape, Flitwick, and Pomona—along with Headmasters Karkaroff and Maxim, and several officials from the Ministry of Magic. It was a veritable gathering of strongmen. How could they let this fake Bagman escape so easily?

However, during his descent, Bagman didn't care what kind of room was below and immediately released the "Fiendish Flame Curse" in mid-air, instantly causing flames to spread in all directions. He was determined to fight to the death.

Scrimgeour and Snape jumped down first, followed by Dumbledore and Flitwick. The Fiendfyre Curse might be an almost insurmountable problem for others, but for Dumbledore and Flitwick, two masters of pyromancy, they naturally knew the counter-curse, the End Curse.

But the next floor turned out to be the office of the castle keeper, Filch. Although his office was not big, it was filled with cabinets. There were also many messy boxes and miscellaneous items hanging from the ceiling. These were all "contraband" items that he had confiscated from students over the years. Some of them he didn't even know what they were used for. Anyway, they were probably not textbooks, so he just confiscated them.

Pig-headed Bagman's Fiendish Flame spell quickly ignited the "contraband" piled up everywhere, which turned out to be a huge box of magical fireworks. As you can imagine, by the time the pursuers landed, they were already surrounded by a dazzling array of firelight.

"End it!" Flitwick roared at the surrounding flames, but to little avail. Some of the Fiendfire was stopped by the spell, but some of the flammable materials they had lit continued to burn, even intensifying.

"Spring—Emit!" As Dumbledore landed, he waved his wand, and a spring of clear water gushed forth from who-knows-where, as if a fire sprinkler had been turned on in a room, and the water poured down like rain.

"Stun!" Scrimgeour cast a Stunning Charm again in Bagman's direction, while Snape cast Expelliarmus on him.

Bagman was once an outstanding player with exceptional agility. The person who became him also possessed his physical attributes. Upon landing, he performed acrobatic rolls, dodging various boxes, tables, and obstacles, and miraculously avoiding the curses of the two masters.

Old Barty then jumped down from another large hole, blocking Bagman's retreat. He seemed somewhat exasperated, pointing his wand directly at "Baghman's" forehead and roaring, "Frostbolt!"

A streak of snow-white frost energy condensed into an arrow that came straight at "Bagman". He seemed completely unprepared for Old Barty to appear in front of him, or perhaps he failed to dodge the spell. The ice arrow pierced his shoulder, and before his blood could flow, his upper body was frozen into an ice sculpture.

Theoretically speaking, using a freezing spell against a dark wizard who has cast a Fiendfire spell is a targeted counterattack, and there have been many successful cases in history. However, Bagman was clearly unlucky, as a large slab of floorboards collapsed and hit his already frozen head.

With a deafening crash, the flames and light of the magic fireworks were finally extinguished in the rain, and Bagman's head was smashed to pieces, and even half of his body was broken into fragments, making him utterly dead.

Watching the blood flow from beneath the large rock, Snape frowned slightly and whispered to Dumbledore, "Dead... If someone who has drunk Polyjuice Potion dies while it's still active, their body won't revert to its original form; the corpse will remain in the disguised form. I'm afraid we won't know who he is!"

At that moment, a young man jumped down from the building and landed next to Scringer, whispering a few words in his ear.

Scrimgeour was furious, and Dumbledore and Barty the Elder approached him, their faces full of questions.

Scrimgeour said, "The red-haired pirate who was captured committed suicide in the temporary detention cell, smashing his head against a pillar until it exploded like a watermelon!"

Old Barty, his face contorted with rage, roared at Scrimgeour, "Rufus, this matter must be thoroughly investigated!"

Looking at the office, which was almost burned to ruins, and the roof that had collapsed more than halfway, and then at the fake Bagman's body in the ruins, everyone felt as if a huge stone was pressing on their hearts, making it hard to breathe.

"My God!" Maxim exclaimed, "I hope these terrible things are finally over!"

Karkaroff and Snape exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with complex emotions.