217: Chapter 217 The Edge of the Woods

"Back up! The Ministry of Magic is taking over here!"

Hit Wizards pushed the crowd outward, and just as Harry had got his wand back, Amos asked him to hand it over immediately for a second test.

Ron was so anxious his neck turned red, while Hermione tried to hold him back while staring at Winky on the ground.

Allen slid from behind the bushes into the edge of the woods, while Nott stayed on the outside, pressing two fingers against the knut at his cuff, feigning the panic of a lost student.

"You will get caught if you go in alone," Nott muttered.

"I haven't gone in."

Looking at the now-empty spot beside him, Nott fought down the urge to curse, stuffed his notebook into his inner pocket, turned to a Ministry of Magic employee, and shouted, "Sir, which way should we go? My friend was scared and fainted by the fire."

The employee was delayed by him for half a step.

Half a step was enough.

Sticking close to the tree shadows, Allen moved near the spot where the mark was cast.

The muddy ground was trampled beyond recognition, with boot prints from the Ministry of Magic, children's shoe prints, and tiny footprints of a House-elf all mixed together, and the surface evidence was almost completely destroyed.

He squatted down, pressing three knuts into the mud, their edges sinking into the grass roots.

Spatial Thin Layer unfolded from the copper coins, slicing the residual magic piece by piece.

The flame spell, Stunner, Expelliarmus—all were sifted out to the outer circle.

The green residual wave in the middle was short, its tail-end abruptly cut off, and when casting, the wrist turned half an inch to the left.

Inside the cage within the Portable Space, Peter was forced to watch the playback, his teeth chattering aloud, "Don't let me watch! I've already said! This is Barty's habit; he likes to bite down on the ending sound when chanting spells, as if offering tribute to his master."

The tip of the void's tail lashed the cage.

Peter covered his mouth and quickly added, "Match, over ninety percent. Especially the finishing motion of the left wrist. His father trained him; people from the Crouch family cast spells cleanly, but Barty's ending has a touch of madness."

Allen pushed the second knut to the left, and a fainter trace of magical residue emerged beneath the mud.

After casting the spell, that person briefly lost control, magic exploding backward, only to be bound and pulled back by some command.

"Imperio residue?" Allen asked.

Peter answered tremblingly, "It might be left from resisting control. If he was suppressed by old Crouch for years, there would be such broken traces when breaking free."

"Record."

The tip of the void pushed a piece of parchment in front of the cage, with a quill hovering above.

Swallowing hard, Peter had no choice but to write: Barty Crouch Jr., suspected of breaking free from control, used Harry Potter's wand to cast the Dark Mark.

Hermione's voice suddenly came from outside the woods, "You can't treat her like this!"

Allen looked up.

Crouch was standing in front of Winky, tapping his cane against the ground.

Winky knelt in the muddy water, Harry's wand had been returned to Amos's hands, and a dozen or so Wizards around were watching.

"A House-elf has no right to hold a wand," Crouch said. "She violated her master's orders."

Hermione's face turned red with anger, "She said she was guarding the seats! She also said she wanted to stop someone!"

Without even looking at Hermione, Crouch said, "Miss Granger, when the Ministry of Magic deals with family property, it does not need a student's instruction."

Ron cursed under his breath, "Property?"

Harry pressed down on Hermione's arm, "Don't rush in yet."

Hermione shook him off, "She'll be driven away, and she might even be silenced!"

Arthur Weasley stepped closer, "Barty, what the children saw might be useful. You'd better ask clearly about the 'him' Winky mentioned."

Crouch's face tightened further, "Mr. Weasley, my family affairs do not require the Misuse of Magic Office to intervene."

Amos frowned, "Barty, the mark was cast from Potter's wand. Your House-elf was holding the wand. Even if she is to be dealt with, you should finish questioning her first."

Crouch finally turned to him, "She has lost my trust. Every word she says must be verified."

Winky lay prostrate on the ground, her voice intermittent, "Winky did not tell anyone, Winky kept guarding the seats, Winky didn't let Young Master..."

Crouch suddenly raised his hand.

Winky immediately pressed her head into the mud, swallowing the rest of her words back down.

Allen stopped in the shadows of the trees.

Young Master.

Standing in the outer circle, Nott heard these two words, and his fingertips scratched fiercely against the inside of his notebook.

He didn't look up, acting as if he were straightening his cuffs scorched by the fire.

"Crouch is afraid she'll keep talking," Nott's low voice came through the knut, "His first reaction just now was to suppress her."

Allen buried the third knut beneath the tree roots, "What he's afraid of isn't the House-elf talking nonsense."

Nott paused for a moment, "Afraid of the word 'Young Master'."

"Mmm."

Allen moved half a step closer to the mark-casting point, Spatial Perception tracing back along the residual wave.

A heat source had stayed here for thirty seconds, walked toward the southern low slope after casting the spell, and was then enveloped by a thicker shielding layer.

The outer shell of the shielding layer bore the contract seal of the Crouch family, while the inner layer showed traces of old-style Death Eater training.

Peter squeezed into the corner of the cage, "He was covered by an invisibility cloak and suppressed by Imperio. Winky must have taken him away, and Crouch ordered her to watch him. But the Dark Mark would stimulate him; he definitely wanted to report to his master."

Allen gathered the residue into the knut, a short ring of green veins surfacing on the copper face, only to be suppressed by the thin spatial wall.

Outside the woods, Crouch announced, "Winky, you are dismissed."

Winky let out a shriek.

Hermione rushed over, but Arthur stopped her.

Ron grabbed Harry in fright, while Harry clutched his recovered wand, his face full of resistance.

"She was just terrified!" Hermione shouted, "You wouldn't even let her finish speaking!"

Crouch looked at her, "Students had better return to the tents."

Hermione wanted to say more, but Amos lowered his voice, "Miss Granger, do not provoke him tonight."

"He's destroying witnesses," Hermione gritted her teeth, "You all saw it."

Amos's face twitched, but he didn't refute.

Allen watched Crouch from the shadows.

Crouch's right hand trembled once beneath his cuff, with a very small amplitude.

Across the crowd, those eyes fell toward the depths of the woods, stopping near the spot where Allen had buried the first knut.

He sensed that the residue had been tampered with.

Allen narrowed the Spatial Thin Layer, and the knut sank deeper.

Crouch's gaze lingered on the muddy ground for two seconds before looking away.

"An old politician," Allen said softly.

Hearing this, Nott replied, "He puts on a steadier act than Lucius."

"Lucius is afraid of staining his robes, while Crouch is afraid of the corpses in his cupboard crawling out."

Nott's pen tip paused, "Should this sentence be recorded?"

"Don't write the exact words."

Nott immediately changed it to: Crouch's emotional core—fear outweighs anger. Subjects of concern: the House-elf Winky, hidden Wizard, inside the Crouch family.

The Ministry of Magic began clearing the area.

The three of them were led away by Arthur; Hermione looked back at Winky, as if wanting to carve every detail into her brain.

Ron cursed the Ministry of Magic as he walked, while Harry stared at his wand, continuously rubbing its shaft.

Allen sealed the final residual wave into the knut, leaving behind a fake trace covered by a flame spell.

Inside the Portable Space, the void suppressed the ebony box, and the cracked pocket watch was excessively quiet.

Peter shrank back into the corner of the cage, not daring to look at the parchment with Barty's name written on it.

Nott circled back from the outer ring, his voice very low, "Are we leaving? If we don't go now, the Aurors are going to seal off the woods."

"Let's go."

Before turning around, Allen glanced at the sky.

The green skull had faded, and only the last coil of the serpent shadow remained, hanging above the camp like a letter sent to an old friend.

Beneath the mud at the edge of the woods, three knuts silently clung to the residue.

The prey stepped into its own footprints.