"What are you going to do?" he asked warily.
"I'm going to make a deal with you—originally, I was going to deal with your father, but he wasn't very cooperative."
The Veela chuckled, "But I was pleasantly surprised to find you. Since that's the case, I'll let you go, and you'll work for me."
"Why should I work for you?"
"I can give you power."
Barty fell silent for a moment.
"What exactly do you want to do?"
"I want you to impersonate your father, disguised as a high-ranking Ministry of Magic official, and at a certain moment, according to my instructions, exercise your power to achieve my goals!"
"Don't worry if your impersonation isn't perfect; other Ministry of Magic officials will cover for you."
Impersonate his father?
Barty tried to imagine controlling his father, making him slowly experience all the pain and melancholy he had endured, while he himself enjoyed his father's power and honor...
He readily agreed to the Veela's deal.
From then on, he drank Polyjuice Potion and became a high-ranking Ministry of Magic official, Mr. Crouch.
Following the Veela's wishes, he used the connections his father had left behind to help her obstruct the magic powder ban and control act.
During this time, Barty gradually realized that he was not the only pawn the Veela had placed in the Ministry of Magic.
He was proficient in magic but lacked political acumen. Many times, he almost exposed himself, but someone helped him cover up his lies.
But what did it matter?
He had already replaced his father and could fully enjoy the power his father once held.
He married a wife and publicly claimed she was Mr. Crouch's second wife.
Even the woman herself believed it.
However, he never slept with her at night—because he was afraid that if he slept for more than two hours, the Polyjuice Potion would wear off, exposing his identity.
The woman often seethed with resentment over this, but Barty chose to tolerate her.
"She's actually very difficult, just like my mother."
As the woman wandered in the garden, Barty vaguely saw his mother's shadow again.
As for Bader's appearance, it was a complete accident.
Barty was passing by Spinner's End one day when he saw the young boy, thrown out of his home by his drunken father because he hadn't collected enough money from scavenging.
He should have ignored it and left directly. But that drunken, irresponsible father reminded him of old Crouch.
So he took the little boy away and named him Bader Crouch.
Barty was initially a little worried because he wasn't sure if Bader's mother was a Muggle, and he was afraid that Muggle blood would make this child reek.
But he soon found that he had worried too much.
This was a well-behaved and lovable boy.
He diligently studied magic, saved his pocket money to buy gifts for Barty, and like Barty in his youth, he tried his best to gain his father's approval.
Barty thought of his father's cold responses in those years, and it felt as if an insect had crawled onto his chest and bitten him.
"You are excellent, Bader."
He responded to his son, who was performing magic for him.
When he saw the brilliant smile blossom on Bader's face, Barty suddenly felt that long-lost warmth reoccupy the high ground of his heart.
No one had cared much for him since his mother died.
The Triwizard Tournament was about to be held.
To spend more time with his son during work, he bought a mansion in Upper Hogsmeade Village and temporarily moved his family in.
He still meticulously manipulated the power and connections in his hands, cooperating with other pawns to fulfill the Veela's various instructions.
This included sending some people to Azkaban, suppressing the heat of the serial murder case, and so on.
He dared not disobey because he knew the Veela's unique enchanting ability.
That night, all the enchanted servants never woke up again.
Perhaps it was due to his effective work and deep trust, for not long ago, the Veela voluntarily revealed her location to him—underneath a treehouse deep in the Forbidden Forest.
He had gained the privilege of reporting his mission results in person.
Barty roughly calculated the time based on the information he had and found that the Veela should have arrived in the Forbidden Forest by the end of October.
It was also from then on that there were no new victims in the serial murder case, and Daphne's name was rigged into the Goblet of Fire.
It didn't matter; he didn't care about the Veela, nor did he care about Daphne.
There was only an exchange of interests between him and the Veela.
However, when the girl named Daphne was, as expected, chosen as a champion, his wife could no longer sit still.
Daphne was her niece, and she came to beg Barty if he could find a way to cancel her champion status.
This was impossible.
Barty could only refuse her.
The Veela had said that Daphne was one of her targets on her list. Although he didn't know what she intended to do, Barty only needed to strictly follow her orders.
Although the first task had an accident, leading to Bagman's imprisonment in Azkaban, Daphne survived.
But would the Veela give up so easily?
She lurked in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts, continuously sending out letters via owls, manipulating Ministry of Magic officials, and organizing the second murder attempt against Daphne.
His wife was still begging him to save Daphne.
Barty was annoyed with this woman because what she was asking for was simply impossible to do.
That was a domineering Veela, whose tyranny was no less than that of the Dark Lord back then.
Daphne was destined to die; this was a fact that no one could change.
Fortunately, the Veela had promised him that he and his family would not be implicated in any way.
If his obedient little son, Bader, died, he would surely...
"Mr. Crouch, the young master is missing!"
Barty had a bad premonition for a moment, but he dared not delve deeper into that thought, only able to mobilize more people to search and rescue to the best of his ability.
"Mr. Crouch, Aurors are here outside, saying they found the young master's body!"
Body?!
Barty froze.
He feigned composure and followed the Aurors to the dumping ground.
Along the way, the Aurors told him that Bader was the new victim of that serial murder case.
Barty didn't believe it.
Because he knew too well who the serial killer was, and that killer had promised him not to harm him or his family.
Until the moment before seeing Bader's body, he still firmly believed the Veela's promise to him.
But facts proved that his trust was misplaced.
Bader was dead, and the method of death was exactly the same as the Veela's usual modus operandi.
He could not accept this fact.
Immense sorrow swept over him, filling every part of his body from head to toe.
He was numb from the sudden impact of this grief. He watched every movement of the people around him and listened to them speak, as if through a layer of mist and cotton.
Only a very old voice, for some reason, jumped out from the depths of his memory, constantly echoing in his ears.
It was the last words of the Auror he had killed when he was a Death Eater—
"You will get your retribution."
"You will get your retribution—"
He mechanically signed the body identification form, mechanically had people carry the body bag back. All expression had vanished from his face; his entire demeanor was only indifference.
That night he returned home and lay alone in bed until midnight.
Finally, from the ashes of despair, flames of anger rose, growing more and more intense.
If he was to suffer retribution for his crimes, then that Veela could not go unpunished!
He was going to the Forbidden Forest; he was going to make that Veela pay the price for her broken promise!
