Chapter 160

"You two have already kissed and are still just friends?"

"Don't tell me you think you're three-year-olds playing house!"

Titus grabbed John's face and kept pulling it.

"How many times have I told you! Be proactive! Be proactive!"

"You've already kissed, why can't you take it a step further!"

John didn't dare to refute and could only let Titus pull his face.

Just as they were making a huge scene, a familiar knocking sound came from the first floor of the Shrieking Shack.

"Brats! Let me in!"

It was Sirius's voice.

He was here again.

The few of them exchanged glances, let John go for the time being, and leaned to the window to look down.

They saw Sirius standing at the door with a bag of food, just like last time, winking at them.

Seeing them all poking their heads out, Sirius raised the bag in his hand.

"Brought butterbeer and pumpkin pasties this time; want me to share some with you?"

Ryan said tentatively: "How about you leave the food and then you leave?"

Hearing this, Sirius rolled his eyes; these little guys had all been infected by John to be more and more impolite!

The few of them laughed, and in the end, they let Sirius in.

As soon as Sirius entered the room, he saw the mess on the floor, clearly having just experienced a fierce fight.

"Looks like you were having a lot of fun."

He smiled and put the food in his hand on the table, then picked up Big Orange and sat on the sofa with it in his arms.

Big Orange purred lazily in his arms, and Sirius rubbed its head.

"I could hear your commotion from outside; aren't you afraid of being discovered by passersby?"

"Not a big problem, I know the Obliviate spell."

John said straightforwardly.

"... If you want to be expelled, just say so."

Hearing John's words, Sirius was speechless.

"By the way, why are you here again?"

John continued to ask.

Last time it was because Harry and Ron were arguing, and he didn't want to watch them bicker, so he came.

But now that they've made up, what are you here for?

"I just missed you guys and came to see you."

"Duck, no need."

They waved their hands collectively with great tacit understanding, expressing their disdain.

Sirius curled his lips.

He was actually just bored of wandering around and wanted to find a place to rest; the first place he thought of was naturally the Shrieking Shack.

So he just came over.

But as it happened, John also had a question he wanted to ask him; perhaps he would know something.

"By the way, Sirius, how much do you know about Barty Crouch?"

Sirius, who was grooming Big Orange, paused and looked at John suspiciously.

"Why are you suddenly asking about him?"

"Just curious, asking; wasn't it him who threw you into Azkaban back then?"

John shrugged and said casually.

This matter was written in the newspapers back then, so it was normal for John to know.

Sirius was silent for a moment, then sighed softly and spoke.

"It was indeed him who sent me to Azkaban, but that can't be blamed on him."

"At that time, all the evidence pointed to me..."

Sirius looked like he was about to reminisce about the past, talking about his trial.

However, he was interrupted by John.

"No, that's not what I want to ask; what I want to know is, how do you view Old Barty as a person?"

John's words made Sirius stunned again, because he felt that John didn't seem to be chatting casually, but wanted to probe into Old Barty.

Sirius looked at John, thought for a while, and still said.

"Old Barty, how should I put it? Back when the Dark Lord was in power, it was he who used iron-fisted means to suppress the activities of many dark forces."

"It was also he who gave Aurors great authority in hunting down Death Eaters, including allowing Aurors to use the three Unforgivable Curses."

"He used violence to fight violence; I have to say, he really deserves credit for fighting the dark forces."

"But this also made him slowly become like those people in the dark forces, cold-blooded and ruthless, stopping at nothing to achieve his goals."

Hearing Sirius's evaluation of Old Barty, John nodded thoughtfully.

Just listening to this, Old Barty was indeed a person with means and courage, and he was firmly in the white camp.

As for using heavy codes in troubled times, this didn't seem like a problem to him.

At this time, Titus, who was eating on the side, heard their conversation and leaned over.

"I heard my dad say that Mr. Crouch Sr. almost became the Minister for Magic back then, but as a result, he lost the opportunity because of his son's affair."

"His son?" Hearing Titus's words, John asked curiously.

"Yeah, his son seems to have been a member of the Death Eaters too."

Titus said while eating, his cheeks bulging.

The person who fought Death Eaters most resolutely had a Death Eater son; that was indeed rare, huh.

Sirius also nodded and continued.

"That's right, back then, in order to protect his reputation, Old Barty personally sent his own son to Azkaban without mercy."

"But even so, he still couldn't save his political future; after all, people couldn't accept a father who couldn't even control his son to be in charge of the Ministry of Magic."

John asked curiously again.

"Then is his son still in Azkaban?"

"No, his son is dead."

Sirius seemed to recall something unpleasant and reminisced.

"His son was locked up next to me at the time, and he died after being locked up for a year."

"Before he died, Old Barty had even brought his wife to visit him, but unfortunately, Old Barty's wife also passed away shortly after, following his son."

"It is said that it was because she couldn't bear the successive blows and died of depression."

Sirius's voice lowered, and a complex emotion flashed in his eyes.

"Old Barty gave everything to order and power, but in the end, he lost his family and the hearts of the people."

"After my wrongful conviction was overturned, I actually met Old Barty too."

"Old Barty once apologized to me, his tone filled with rare fatigue and gloom."

"Later, Old Barty personally tried Peter, saying it was to give me an explanation."

The reminiscence ended, and Sirius asked John curiously again.

"However, John, why are you suddenly asking these things?"

"Nothing."

John still shook his head, didn't explain, and then continued to ask.

"By the way, after Little Dwarf Star was executed, did you see his body?"

".... I saw it once."

Sirius frowned when answering this question, because Dumbledore had also asked him this question a while ago.

At that time, when Little Dwarf Star was executed with the Dementor's Kiss, he was actually present; it was Old Barty who specifically called him over.

Saying it was to send Little Dwarf Star on his last journey, which could be considered worthy of their former friendship.

Then he and Old Barty witnessed the whole process together, and after that, they sent Little Dwarf Star's body to be cremated without delay.

But the more he reminisced, the tighter Sirius's frown became.

Because he also knew about the nightmares Harry had been having recently, and Dumbledore had asked him that question shortly after learning about this nightmare.

At first, he thought Dumbledore asked this question just to confirm whether Harry's nightmare was actually happening or some projection of past memories.

After all, a dead person appearing in a dream didn't seem real no matter how you thought about it.

But now John had asked the same question, and he suddenly realized.

What Dumbledore and John were pursuing together was actually whether Little Dwarf Star was dead or not.

Especially since John had specifically asked about Old Barty's character, he was clearly suspecting whether Old Barty might have faked Little Dwarf Star's death.

He looked at John, his eyes becoming somewhat complex.

How could this child think so much?