Professor Vampire.

Chapter 279: Crouch disappears into thin air

"Forget it, let's ignore this stubborn ugly thing and go straight over."

Dracula didn't bother to pay attention to the gargoyles and rushed to the Forbidden Forest to find Barty Crouch, who had disappeared for several months.

So he grabbed Harry's hood and the two disappeared together in the corridor on the third floor.

The next moment, Dracula and Harry appeared in the principal's office together.

Dumbledore, wearing a long green nightgown, was drinking tea and reading some letters. Seeing Dracula and Harry coming, he raised his head in surprise.

"It's rare to see you two come to see me together. Is there something wrong?" Dumbledore looked at Dracula and then at Harry, and asked in surprise.

"Professor!" Harry took a step forward and said to Dumbledore, "Mr. Crouch has appeared - in the forest, he has something to tell you!"

Harry thought Dumbledore would ask some questions, but Dumbledore didn't ask anything, which made him feel relieved - Dracula had told Dumbledore about Crouch's problem long before he found the conclusive evidence.

Now, Dumbledore was as eager as Dracula to see the director of the International Magic Exchange and Cooperation Department who had disappeared for several months.

"Lead the way in front." Dumbledore frowned slightly and said without hesitation.

"Don't lead the way, it's a waste of time." Dracula grabbed Harry's hood again, "I'll wait for you at the Quidditch Stadium. It's not too late to consider leading the way there."

After that, Dracula and Harry disappeared again.

Dumbledore shook his head helplessly and looked at the golden-red bird on the shelf beside him:

"Excuse me, Fawkes."

Then, Fawkes the Phoenix landed on Dumbledore's shoulder and took him away in a golden-red flame.

...

The three of them instantly appeared at the edge of the Quidditch field.

Harry was no longer surprised by Dracula's ability to Apparate in Hogwarts. As soon as his feet landed on the ground, he hurriedly took the two professors to the direction where Crouch had appeared before.

"What did Mr. Crouch say, Harry?" Dumbledore asked as they walked quickly to a winding path.

"He said he wanted to remind you that he had done something terrible..." Harry said thoughtfully, "Mr. Crouch also mentioned his son, and... and Voldemort, and it seemed that Voldemort had recovered..."

Just now, he hadn't noticed the meaning of Crouch's words. After repeating it, Harry was suddenly shocked.

"Is it true?" Dumbledore said solemnly, quickening his pace and hurried into the dark, gloomy forest.

"His behavior is very abnormal," Harry said.

Harry walked quickly beside Dumbledore, and Dracula was on the other side of Dumbledore. He didn't see how he moved, but he was like a ghost, following the pace of the two people's strides.

"Mr. Crouch doesn't seem to know where he is. He keeps talking, as if he thinks Percy is there... Then he suddenly changed, became very scary, and said he wanted to see you..."

Harry said with some concern: "I asked Mr. Bagman to keep an eye on him in the Forbidden Forest."

"Really?" Dumbledore's eyes gradually became particularly deep.

He looked at Dracula, and they nodded to each other.

"It should be the Imperius Curse without a doubt." Dracula said softly.

"Professor Dracula, I remember you checked Crouch's mind before." Dumbledore asked, "Although you have always suspected Crouch, you have never been sure that he was controlled by the Imperius Curse..."

"Voldemort should have found a way to prevent the Imperius Curse from being discovered." Dracula said thoughtfully, "But I am a little puzzled. His power is far less than his peak period... So, how can he deceive me with that level of power?"

"In short, I am afraid we have to prepare for another war." Dumbledore said in a deep voice.

Then, Dumbledore looked at Harry: "Do you know who else saw Mr. Crouch?"

His steps became bigger, and Harry had to run to keep up.

"No." Harry was a little out of breath and said intermittently, "Mr. Bagman was talking to me at the time... He had just finished telling the warriors about the content of the third project, and then pulled me to the Forbidden Forest."

"Later, we saw Mr. Crouch coming out from the depths of the Forbidden Forest-"

"Where was he?" Dumbledore asked.

At this time, the lights of Hagrid's hut and Beauxbatons carriage in the distance had almost disappeared in the darkness, leaving only the faint starlight in the sky shining through the scattered branches and leaves on the ground, and the flames emanating from Fawkes on Dumbledore's shoulder, allowing Harry to identify the direction of travel.

"Over there." Harry raised his hand and pointed forward, stepped in front of Dumbledore and Dracula, and led them through the bushes.

As a Gryffindor wizard who often came to the Forbidden Forest, Harry was familiar with this area and was confident that he would not go wrong.

"Mr. Bagman?" Harry shouted into the Forbidden Forest, "Mr. Crouch? I brought Professor Dumbledore to see you!"

No one answered.

"They were here just now." Harry said to Dumbledore in a panic, "They must be around here, I don't know what went wrong..."

Dumbledore suddenly raised his wand-

"Lumos."

A narrow beam of light shone from the tip of the wand, moving back and forth between the dark tree trunks, illuminating the land below.

However, before Dumbledore and Harry found Crouch and Bagman with the help of the fluorescence, the silver-haired figure beside them had already discovered the traces of the two Ministry of Magic officials.

Dracula's figure disappeared beside Dumbledore, and then flashed behind a thick tree.

"Here." He snapped his fingers lightly.

A bright white flame appeared in Dracula's palm, and then began to rotate around him, illuminating a large area of ??the surrounding forest.

Harry and Dumbledore hurried forward and looked at the roots of the tree where Dracula was.

There, Bagman lay curled up at the foot of a tree, looking unconscious—there was no sign of Mr. Crouch around.

Dumbledore leaned down and gently lifted one of Bagman's eyelids.

"He fainted," Dumbledore said softly.

He looked toward the surrounding trees, his half-moon lens flickering in the dim light of his wand.

"Should I go get someone?" Harry asked worriedly, "Madam Pomfrey?"

"No," Dumbledore said quickly, "Stay here."

As he spoke, he looked at Dracula on the side.

Dracula nodded, and his figure suddenly soared into the air, flying above the Forbidden Forest, higher than all the trees.

The next moment, a silver-white blade of light swept across the entire Forbidden Forest, and Harry felt cold all over, as if something had scanned his entire body.

Dumbledore raised his wand high, pointing in the direction of Hagrid's hut.

A silver phoenix flew out of the wand and flashed through the trees. Then Dumbledore leaned over to Bagman again, pointed his wand at him, and whispered:

"Everlasting (Ee)."

The resuscitation spell worked well, and Bagman soon opened his eyes with a blank look on his face.

As soon as he saw Dumbledore, he struggled to sit up, but Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder and told him to lie still.

"Mr. Crouch is completely crazy!" Bagman covered his head with his hand and muttered, "He suddenly attacked me... Even in this state, I am no match for him, and then he knocked me out."

"Okay, lie down for a while." Dumbledore said, his voice getting deeper and deeper, "I hope we have another chance to find Crouch."

Then, Dracula also fell from the air.

"How is it, did you get anything?" Dumbledore asked.

"I have searched the area covered by the Anti-Apparition Spell, but there is no one." Dracula said softly, "Of course, it is not ruled out that there will be ways to bypass my perception, just like the Imperius Curse on Crouch."

"It is not easy to bypass your perception, Professor Dracula." Dumbledore shook his head gently, "I am more inclined to believe that Crouch has left the area of ????Hogwarts and Apparated away... Can the spatial fluctuations of Apparition be captured?"

"Are you not embarrassing me?" Dracula said with his arms folded and leaning against the tree trunk next to him, "Tell me, how can I find a spatial fluctuation that has dissipated a few minutes ago in such a large area?"

Just then, a thunderous sound of footsteps came into their ears, and Hagrid appeared panting, followed by Fang.

He held his bow and arrow in his hand and looked around vigilantly.

"Professor Dumbledore!" After seeing the people present, his eyes widened, "Professor Dracula, Harry... why are you all here?"

"Hagrid, please help send Mr. Bagman to the school infirmary," Dumbledore interrupted his question and quickly arranged, "He was hit by a very strong coma spell and will be weak for a while."

"Then, tell Minerva and the others to make sure they take good care of the students in each college and no one should come out of the common room!"

"Oh, okay... no problem, professor..." Hagrid was a little stunned, but he still carried out Dumbledore's orders as quickly as possible.

After he finished speaking, he carried Bagman on his back, turned around and disappeared into the dark bushes, and Fang followed behind at a trot.

From a distance, Harry seemed to hear Hagrid meet someone at the exit of the Forbidden Forest and greeted him: "Oh, good evening, Mr. Filch... I don't need to help, just do your own thing... Oh! Thank you so much!"

After Hagrid left, Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief.

"Professor Dracula," he said softly, "Please send Harry back to his common room... I want to look for him again. Mr. Crouch's escape from the Imperius Curse will definitely be known to Voldemort, and he should be in danger now."

"Let's look for him together." Dracula was silent for a moment, then said, "Anyway, I'm also very interested in what Crouch has experienced."

He snapped his fingers lightly.

A dark moon appeared beside Harry, and Dracula reached out and pushed Harry into the dark moon, teleporting him directly back to the Gryffindor common room.

...

If what happened that night were to be spread, it would probably shock most wizards in the magic world--

It was rare that two great wizards joined forces, but they couldn't find a person who was unconscious...

The sun rose again from the end of the Black Lake. In the Hogwarts principal's office, Dracula and Dumbledore sat on the sofa and chair in silence, and both of them looked unhappy.

"Professor Dracula, do you still remember? How long did it take Harry to get to the castle from the Forbidden Forest?" Dumbledore asked, breaking the silence.

"I know what you want to say," Dracula nodded and said, "I asked Potter, he ran back from the Forbidden Forest almost without stopping. At his speed, he could finish the journey in less than ten minutes..."

"Even if we add the time spent in the castle, it took no more than twenty minutes from the time Potter left Crouch to the time we entered the Forbidden Forest... I don't believe he could get out of the range of the Anti-Apparition Spell in twenty minutes."

Dracula took out the title deed of Hogwarts and looked at the vast forest northeast of the castle.

He knew the boundaries of Hogwarts very well, and he also knew exactly how vast the coverage area of ??the Anti-Apparition Spell was... This was definitely not a journey that could be completed in twenty minutes by just legs.

"What if Crouch rode a broom?" Dumbledore frowned and guessed.

"If it was a broom as fast as the Nimbus 2000, twenty minutes would be enough for him to leave Hogwarts..." Dracula said, "But a person who is fighting the Imperius Curse and is extremely unconscious, do you really think he can control a flying broom?"

Dumbledore's eyebrows frowned even more.

He stood up from his chair and paced back and forth in the office, thinking about Crouch.

"If we rule out the possibility that Crouch could leave on his own, that is to say..." Dumbledore suddenly turned his head and looked at Dracula, "There is a possibility that there was another person in the Forbidden Forest at that time, and he hid Crouch!"

"That's right, and that person is likely Barty Crouch Jr. who faked his death on the island of Azkaban." Dracula added in a deep voice.

Dumbledore's eyes moved, and then he sighed again.

"Unfortunately, Voldemort seems to have learned his lesson this time and didn't ask his former subordinates for help." He said helplessly, "I didn't get any information from Severus... Professor Dracula, do you have any news?"

"Lucius has never been trusted by Voldemort, so it's impossible for him to be driven under such circumstances." Dracula shook his head and said, "Voldemort probably only trusts his supporters who are imprisoned in Azkaban now."

He then looked at Dumbledore and asked, "You should know your former students. What kind of person is Barty Crouch Jr."