The news that two Hogwarts Champions had taken first and second place instantly threw the entire castle into celebration.
The next two days happened to fall on the weekend. Even Sirius stayed in Hogsmeade for a while, dropping by Hogwarts from time to time to fool around with the students. Harry and the others also took the chance to visit Hogsmeade during their outings.
Of course, the most excited person of all was Ron.
As one of the hostages who had even taken part in fighting the Giant Squid, the amount of attention he received reached an all-time high in his life.
Especially since the Champions themselves had little interest in repeatedly recounting what happened beneath the lake, while the other students were bursting with curiosity. In comparison, Ron became a rare and valuable source of stories.
Of course, if he had been a bit more objective instead of constantly boasting about how he knocked the Giant Squid senseless with a single punch, he probably would have been even more popular.
But their fun didn't last long. Sirius suddenly brought Harry and the others to Tver's office.
"You're even responsible for teaching… these two?" Sirius frowned in displeasure when he walked in and saw Draco and Neville reviewing papers.
In his eyes, everyone in the Malfoy family was a Death Eater. Even though Draco was still young, he was practically a Death Eater in reserve.
During the last Wizarding War, although Lucius had cleverly (or cowardly) kept himself behind the scenes, it didn't change the fact that he had a notorious reputation as a leading figure among the Death Eaters.
Because of that, Sirius, who was naturally opposed to Death Eaters, found it hard to understand why Tver would privately tutor the child of someone like that.
"This is Hogwarts," Tver reminded him. "If a student has a question, a professor has the responsibility to answer it."
Of course, it was perfectly normal for certain students to receive a bit of special treatment.
After all, Draco had ended up soaking in the water for so long because of him, and had even been tossed around by the Giant Squid.
Even if he had been asleep at the time, the fact that he hadn't developed any psychological trauma already showed strong mental resilience.
So as compensation, Tver had deliberately skipped a weekend seminar with Dumbledore and used the time specifically to tutor Draco and Neville.
Draco pressed his lips together. The resentment he had been harboring toward the professor immediately eased quite a bit.
He knew very well how terrible his father's reputation as a Death Eater was, especially at Hogwarts, in the eyes of students from houses other than Slytherin.
That reputation was also the biggest obstacle preventing him from making friends with students from other houses.
"Alright. So what brings you here today?" Tver asked, looking at Sirius, who still seemed somewhat conflicted.
"It's Harry. They discovered something interesting." Sirius stepped forward with an arm around Harry, though he still cast a cautious glance at Draco and Neville.
"You two should head back first. We'll continue tomorrow," Tver said immediately to Draco and Neville.
Both of them understood that whatever was about to be discussed wasn't directed at them, but rather something they weren't meant to know.
So they didn't linger. After politely thanking Tver, they left the office while quietly discussing several key points they had just summarized from the papers.
Watching them leave, Harry and the others, especially Hermione, couldn't help feeling a little envious.
"Click."
The door closed softly, and Sirius immediately pulled Harry over to sit down.
"Harry saw the name Barty Crouch on the Marauder's Map!"
"And?" Tver curled his lip dismissively.
He had already known this would happen. In reality, the one appearing on the Marauder's Map was Barty Crouch Jr. disguised as Moody.
"As one of the tournament organizers, isn't it perfectly normal for Barty Crouch to appear at Hogwarts?"
Sirius clearly disliked Tver's perfunctory reaction. His voice rose abruptly.
"But the problem is, that name appeared in Sn... Snape's potions storeroom!"
"Mhm. And?" Tver picked up his cup. News like this didn't even make him interested enough to pour them pumpkin juice.
"But Snape said something was stolen from his potions storeroom," Hermione suddenly said.
"Professor Snape," Tver corrected.
"Right," Hermione replied obediently. "Professor Snape said not only were some potion ingredients taken, but even a few alchemy tools disappeared."
"Oh?"
Tver set his cup down in surprise.
He already knew that Little Barty had stolen potion ingredients to brew Polyjuice Potion.
But alchemy tools?
Could those tools have interfered with his activities within the school?
Seeing curiosity appear on Tver's face for the first time, Hermione gained a bit more confidence.
"Here's what we think. We suspect that Mr. Barty Crouch might be the one who put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire."
"Exactly!" Sirius said approvingly.
"And the reason?"
"Uh…" Sirius scratched his head. "Maybe because his Death Eater son was imprisoned and died after Harry defeated Voldemort, so he holds a grudge?"
"Do you really think that's possible?" Tver looked at them speechlessly.
It wasn't prejudice, but recently he had gained a much clearer understanding of Gryffindor...
"That does sound a little far-fetched." Sirius's face reddened slightly, but he still insisted on suspecting Barty.
"Regardless, Crouch appearing at Hogwarts at night is a fact. I know you're familiar with him, so we hope you can investigate him a little."
"Even if nothing comes of it, at least we can rule out one suspect, right?"
"Don't worry. We've been monitoring the situation at Hogwarts the whole time. No one will be allowed to harm Harry," Tver said casually.
After watching them leave the office, satisfied with his assurance, Tver fell into deep thought.
According to Peter Pettigrew's intelligence, after bursting into inexplicable laughter at some point, Voldemort had entered a very strange state.
Every day, after drinking the milk Peter collected for him, he would accumulate strength and remain quietly on the second floor.
But according to Peter's description, Voldemort's restored human form was slightly different from before.
His originally blood-red eyes had developed a faint yellow tint. The two colors mixed together, giving his pupils a crazed red-orange hue.
If the previous Voldemort felt cold and sinister, the current one radiated a suffocating madness that made people's hearts tremble.
And now Little Barty was stealing alchemy tools as well.
Tver closed his eyes, his expression complicated.
Both master and servant had begun behaving differently from before, and it gave him an unsettling feeling of losing control.
This was the first time he was truly confronting Voldemort without fully knowing the course of events.
Yet because he had complete confidence in his own strength, a faint smile slowly appeared on Tver's lips.
The wizarding world had been a little too peaceful lately.