Chapter 379 Mad-eye Moody
Evan revealed the shocking truth, but it was clear that Sirius and Mr. Weasley did not believe him.
"Barty helped his son escape from Azkaban?!" said Mr. Weasley, surprised. "How is that possible? He wouldn't do such a thing!"
He looked anxiously at Evan and then at Sirius.
Mr. Weasley had a panicked expression on his face and didn't know what to do.
It seemed like he wanted the two to shout "Happy April Fools' Day" at him.
"Evan, I thought you understood Crouch's nature," Sirius continued trying to persuade him, "Believe me, he refused to pardon his son at the Wizengamot trial, let alone break the law to help him escape from prison. Anything that threatens his reputation must be dismissed; he felt no paternal love."
"But you also said Crouch was ruthless. If he could save his son without being caught, why wouldn't he?"
"That's Azkaban, the most heavily guarded wizarding prison!" Sirius said impatiently, "If you see it, you'll understand. How could Crouch get a man out alive under the watch of thousands of Dementors?"
"Dementors have no eyes; they can't see around them, they can only sense the breath of living beings, which is the main reason you could escape successfully in the first place," Evan persisted. "Crouch could trick the Dementors with a little trick."
"What trick?" Sirius asked, frowning.
"Polyjuice Potion," Evan whispered. "He used the concoction to make his wife appear as his son. The Dementors couldn't see through it. They could only smell one healthy person and one dying person coming in, and one healthy person and one dying person leaving."
After Evan finished, neither Mr. Weasley nor Sirius spoke.
They were terribly shocked and seemed to want to find a flaw in the plan, but after thinking for a long time, they found no way to refute Evan's theory. Yet, there was something missing!
"Is there any evidence?" Sirius asked.
"No," Evan shook his head. He didn't really have any evidence. "If you're willing to search Crouch's house, use Veritaserum on him, or check his wife's grave, there might be some results."
"This is absurd, utterly absurd," said Mr. Weasley, "If someone dared to ask the most powerful official at the Ministry of Magic to do these things, they would immediately be sent home or to the hospital to be examined. With all due respect, I think you should go have a look as well, just to be prudent."
"Alright, Arthur," Sirius said gravely, "Evan is simply under too much pressure. If we fall under the curse, we'll be no better than him."
"But..."
"This is all imagination, wild imagination," said Sirius, looking at Evan seriously, as if seeing him for the first time. "Evan, if I didn't know you so well, I'd think you've been mentally affected by Voldemort's curse."
"It's best not to talk about this," whispered Mr. Weasley, "Did Barty Crouch help his son escape from prison? It's crazy enough to think about."
"But what I just said really happened," Evan said.
In fact, he was somewhat dejected.
There was no way to convince Sirius, Mr. Weasley, and the others. The positive image of Barty Crouch was too deeply rooted in their minds.
If he kept speaking this way, he would only sow doubt in them.
Revealing all this in advance was just asking for trouble. He could only let time prove everything.
Since he couldn't nip it in the bud, he could only think of ways for the next semester.
By then, with the help of the Marauder's Map, things would be easier.
"What you said may indeed happen, but I still say you don't know Barty Crouch. He wouldn't do it. I'm sure..."
"Do not let your guard down. Everything is possible!"
At that moment, a gruff voice echoed in the cabin behind Evan.
The door swung open, and Sirius stood guard in front of Evan, swiftly drew his wand, looked alertly ahead, and cast a spell quickly.
Evan peeked out and saw an elderly man standing at the entrance.
He held a long staff and was wrapped in a black traveling cloak.
Upon seeing his face, Evan was taken aback and instinctively stepped back.
His face seemed to have been carved from weathered wood by someone with only a vague idea of how human faces should look, and who wasn't very skilled with the chisel. Every inch of his skin appeared marked. His mouth looked like a diagonal slit, missing a large piece of the nose.
But it was the man's eyes that made him terrifying. One was small, dark, and shiny. The other was large, round like a coin, and of a vivid electric blue.
The blue eye moved incessantly, unblinking, rolling up, down, and side to side, completely independent of the normal eye. And then it rolled completely, pointing towards the back of the man's head, so all that could be seen was whiteness.
Evan was stunned by this strange gaze and gazed intently at him.
Almost instantly, he knew who this guy was, Alastor Moody.
Moody looked at Evan and Sirius and approached with his staff.
"Black, I've read your latest report, so you're innocent!" He extended a hand as scarred as his face.
"Yes, I have been declared innocent!" Sirius shook hands with him, and Moody drew closer.
"Your family history is not very good. Although Dumbledore is willing to believe in you, I may think otherwise," he said rudely, turning his eyes to Evan.
"I apologize for overhearing your conversation. If you want to speak ill of high officials at the Ministry of Magic in secret next time, it's better not to choose this kind of place."
His normal eye was fixed on Evan, but his blue eye continued to restlessly move in its socket. "But I must say, I just heard a marvelous reasoning, very exciting. I haven't heard such reasoning in a long time!"
"Thank you!" Evan instinctively replied.
"Young man, you have the potential to be an Auror; I like you!" He reached into his traveling cloak, took out a flask, and took a long swig.
As he raised his arm to drink, his cloak lifted a few inches off the ground, and Evan saw several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.
